The Kooks

The Kooks previewed songs from their forthcoming second album last night (November 24) during an acoustic gig at the Union Chapel in London.

The show, part of the Mencap Little Sessions series of gigs in the venue, also saw The Pigeon Detectives play an electric set, and The Metros perform acoustically.

After The Pigeon Detectives delighted the sold-out crowd with a selection of favorites such as ‘Found Out’ and ’Romantic Type’, which had the crowds leaving their pew seats to dance in the aisles, The Kooks took the chapel stage at 21:30 GMT.

Wearing a white baggy shirt and red necktie, front-man Luke Pritchard led the four-piece through new song ’Harvest’ before a selection of old favorites such as ‘she moves in her own way’ and ’Ooh La’.

With the gig being acoustic, new songs such as ‘love it all’ and ‘always where I need to be’ sounded Neil Young-influenced, with Pritchard’s trademark whooping vocals bolstering a continuation of the band’s upbeat, melodic style.

Before performing new song ‘Shine on’, a crowd member shouted, “Hurry up and release a new album.”

The heckle annoyed Pritchard, who responded with a tired, “Alright, we have, it’s ready!”, referring to recently-completed recording sessions.

The Kooks are expected to release their new album in early 2008.

After performing ’naïve’, the band left the stage briefly then returned for an encore of further new songs and a rapturously-received rendition of ‘ Jackie Big Tits’.

By Romina Ryan