Best of 2008

I had to do this for work and figured I should post here, too.

Hope I'm not forgetting anything!

* By Joelle, who is drinking Egg Nog coffee. Yum!


The Only 2008 Releases I Bought & Therefore Love (in no order)



*The Kooks, KONK

* Butch Walker, Sycamore Meadows

* Val Emmich, Little Daggers

* The Matches, A Band in Hope

* She & Him (Vol. 1)

* Hanson, The Walk



Shows That Rocked My '08:

The Kooks @ Terminal 5

Sohodolls @ CMJ

Stone Temple Pilots @ PNC

Butch Walker (multiple shows)

Hanson @ The Wellmont

The Matches @ Stone Pony

Val Emmich @ Maxwells

Perfuma @ CMJ

The Gay Blades @ Irving Plaza



Band I Wish Toured in '08: lostprophets

The Kooks in Olympic Drama

With just a week to go before the opening ceremonies for the Bejing Olympics, an innocent little song by The Kooks has somehow led to an international controversy. It seems that two members of Britain's Olympic sailing squad have been forced to change the name of their boat after Olympic officials deemed it inappropriate.

Ben Rhodes and Stevie Morrison were informed that their boat, which they dubbed "Jackie Big Tits" (after a song from the Kooks' first record 'Inside In/Inside Out'), was unsuitable for the games. The boys have a long tradition of naming their vessel after various musical inspirations, with past names including "a boat called Britney and another named Sally Cinnamon."

According to Morrison, "It's not the same if your boat just has a number, is it?"


THE KOOKS ARE PLAYING THE STONE PONY IN ASBURY PARK, NJ ON SEPT 12. DON'T MISS IT!
www.myspace.com/thekooks

Get the new Kooks song, "Brooklyn," at Planet Verge.com

A lot show reviews often note that the band of subject is so much better live than on the CD. That usually translates to "The CD isn't really that good, but don't judge them on that. Just see the live show and you'll like them."

In the case of Brighton, England's The Kooks, the band is SO MUCH BETTER LIVE. In a totally unbelievable way because both their albums are so insanely amazing, no one would ever imagine that they surpass even the recordings during the live show. They could have blasted a hole in the solar system or something because as soon as the members stepped on stage, it's like the world changed. Time could have stopped because the only thing that mattered was watching the songs fans have been playing over and over and over again come to life.



The tracks on The Kooks' debut, Inside In/Inside Out and its recently released follow-up, KONK, are catchy. They'll stick in your head as soon as you hear them. But when they're played on stage, they just POP.

Vocalist, Luke Pritchard, moves around the stage channeling Jim Morrison. His voice is just as clean live as it is recorded, so you know that there's not much correction during production. It's all pretty much organic with The Kooks and that's what's going to give them longevity.



The rise of The Kooks seems to have happened all very suddenly. One day the band is slowly leaking over to the USA through streaming BBC Radio stations, the next "She Moves in Her Own Way" is sweetening up modern rock radio and before anyone knew what was happening, the band has two sold-out shows in New York City. If things keep up-- and there's no doubt they will--- hysteria is not too far off. Right now, the "cool" crowd is all over these guys. But as soon as MTV and all the Pop radio stations start playing The Kooks, all the young screaming girls are going to start lining up before shows chanting their names. It might just be the next Beatlesque invasion. It's probably happening in the UK already, if any of the magazine covers and features in Men's Vogue have anything to do with it.



Unfortunately for the show's opening act, The Morning Benders, the same cannot be said. It's understandable the band was placed on this tour because its sound is so similiar to The Kooks. But this California-based act seems so new and nervous, it just didn't fly. These songs are actually better on the album then live.

To play Terminal 5, a band's really got to have a huge sound because the soundsystem is so bad. So that could also have something to do with The Morning Benders not totally winning over the crowd. Hopefully, the band members are taking notes from The Kooks and will end the snorefest that happens as they play. Towards the end of the set, things did pick up. The band told fans to dance, and so they did. But it was only during the single, "Waiting for a War."


Now for a few complaints:

What is up with....

* People actually talking on their cell phones during the show?

* The jerks who are waving their hands up in the air but TEXTING with one finger as they're screaming?

* The friggin' tall as hell man who decided it was a good idea to stand in front of short people?

* The security guard escorting me over to Will Call and holding my camera hostage until I picked up my photo pass?

* The venue pulling an Irving Plaza and not allowing flash photography? Grr...

* The hurricane/tornado that happened in Essex County, NJ while we were in the show and we had to come home to!?


** By Joelle, who along with her friend Theresa, ran into The Kooks new bass player Daniel and the band's guitar tech Adam, at a bar before the show. They chatted about Bon Jovi, explained what NJ guidos are like and learned about the UK's version- trackies.

PLANET VERGE PRESENTS A BONUS TRACK FROM THE KOOKS-- "Brooklyn"
You can get it off the CD that accompanies KONK, or listen to it RIGHT NOW at www.planetverge.com

MEET THE KOOKS- BEHIND THE SCENES FOOTAGE FROM KOOKSTV




THE KOOK's new video, "Shine On," from KONK

Kooks Krazy

The release of the Konk by The Kooks may be the first time a band released a second album before I was ready for it. I had yet to play out the band’s debut CD, Inside in/Inside out,(is it even possible?), so now I have two albums by the same glorious band on constant rotation. And they can easily just be from a double-disk set because the two albums flow so well. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?

It’s great for the USA fans anyway. The momentum is picking up, so why not just give audiences more of what is already getting lots of love in the UK?

While the overall vibe Konk is similar to its predecessor, one thing has obviously changed. The lyrics are a bit more mature- or shall I say more love injected and less testosterone-ized? Instead of singing about getting underneath a girl’s skirt, this time around vocalist Luke Pritchard is actually asking the girl “Do you wanna make love to me?” and revealing “I always thought I’d end up with you.” He even pleads “I miss you and I need you, please don’t go” on the track “Gap.”

The album opens on an acoustic note. And with an accent so fine, what listener really needs anything else? For the Kooks, simplicity will lead to longevity. The songs are clean, yet never dull. It's expected that the tracks translate effortlessly live. Perhaps that's one of the secrets to the band’s success. I for one, can not wait to see them live at Terminal 5 in NYC and see what they’ve got.

Is it June yet?

Standout tracks: "Sway," "Do You Wanna," "Always Where I Need to Be"

*By Joelle, who is pretty sure the ONLY album she actively went to a store and bought in ’07 was the Kooks' debut. They are also the only band in years for whom she actually went and bought their album after hearing just one song.

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR LEAD SINGLE, "ALWAYS WHERE I NEED TO BE"

Must Hear Music

My co-workers and I have been getting pretty bored listening to Krock 2 streaming while in the office. I'll admit that it's better than KRock radio in NYC and while you'll never hear Green Day or The Offspring ten times a day, you will get a lot of indie repeats and there's only so much Coconut Records some people can take. So we've been surfing the Internet radio waves via www.web-radio.com and have been hanging ten in the UK.

Our fave. find so far? Virgin Radio. Yea, you can't escape the Maroon 5, but the Brit bands are refreshing and the DJs accents, oh so fine.

Here are some of my favorite discoveries:



The Hoosiers, "Goodbye Mr. A": www.myspace.com/thehoosiers
London lads with feel good indie Pop tunes that stick in your head like peanut butter to jelly. They're on RCA so maybe they'll be touring the US one day, if they haven't already.



Scouting for Girls, "She's So Lovely": www.myspace.com/scoutingforgirls An Epic signing from London. Hmm, I'm beginning to think the major labels oversees are way cooler than the A&R scouts in the US. I actually Googled the lyrics to this song to find out who sang it, that's how good it is. And they got signed on Valentines Day of last year. How cute is that?



The Kooks, "She Moves in Her Own Way": www.myspace.com/thekooks
Ok so I discovered this band before I heard it on Capitol Radio. I love the video. I love the accents. I love the song. They're on Virgin. There you have it. The major labels in the UK rock, the US A&R are too afraid of loosing their jobs to take risks and make radio a better place, and that's why I quit my A&R gig.

Go listen. Now.

Love,
Joelle, who has six minutes until General Hospital comes on! Yay.