Lily Allen was Right! The Kooks: Dreadful.

America, we're in store for a real treat. Something to nibble on in between Hot Topic shopping sprees and episodes of "Room Raiders." The Kooks are coming from the UK and they'll be here to stay...at least until we find another trend. Perhaps a much needed revival of the Yo-Yo. Maybe our young generation will stop feeling sorry for themselves, stop thinking of the cardiovascular system in relation to knifing it over a two-week romance, and pick up some fuckin' Yo-Yos. Maybe some Yo-Yos with wireless internet access to update your Yo-Yo tones.

I don't mean to be so critical. In all honesty, I'm not as up on my nationwide trends as I should be, but the Kooks at least fit into the image I have of it. I could easily hear them sweeping the speakers of Old Navy's across our country. Now, you might be asking yourself, "what the hell are you doing at Old Navy?" Well, if a guy's gotta a get a nice pair of slacks at an affordable price, Old Navy's the answer. Not really, but you get what I'm saying here?

The Kooks have just got that agreeable jangle to them. Now, I'm not one to throw a band into the waters of one-hit-wonder-porta-pottydom based on radio-friendliness. I like a good hook as much as the next guy, but I also like to get challenged even just a little. The Kooks pride themselves on their influences (Syd Barrett and David Bowie, for instance), but those sounds are not to be found under their thick bed of musical cliches. The vocalist's British accent pipes through the top, and while I'm all for staying true to your dialect as a singer, it comes off as a candy-coated punk sound. It's if Futureheads split up and a couple of the members formed a Maroon 5/Disney Radio side-project. But hey, at least they look really fabulous, confused, but fabulous.

Wait for it...Wait for it.