The highly touted boys from Brighton are back with their sophomore release, Konk, that hit stores earlier this week, but some are questioning whether the pre-release hype matches the merit. The Kook’s debut release Inside In/Inside Out was exceedingly well received, but reviews for Konk have been mixed. Betty Clarke of The Guardian gave the record 4 out 5 stars saying, “The woolliness of their debut has been replaced with a determined pop sound that dips into hard-edged rock,” but New Music Express was less than optimistic, and rather disappointed:

“What’s clear is that they’ve lost the songwriterly knack they originally wielded with abandon and replaced it with clichés and a foggy palimpsest of what they once had. We recommend they search high and low for that spark of brightness in time for album three.” NME.com

I haven’t picked up the record yet, but if the single is any indication it looks like I’m in store for a watered down version of Inside In/Inside Out. To be honest, when I first heard “Always Where I Need To Be” I thought I was still listening to The Kooks first album. Check out thise video below and decide for yourself.

The Kooks- “Always Where I Need To Be”

Actually, it’s kinda funny. This skit features Tim & Eric as well. Good for an uncomfortable laugh.

Edging out Austin, TX bands I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness and …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Springfield, Missouri quartet Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin has emerged as this year’s winner of SXSW’s most ridiculous AND uncomfortably long band name. Destined to never fit onto a venue’s marquee (at least without using “5″s as “S”s), or become a catchy acronym (SSLYBY…nope, I got nothing. But I guess you can spell their acronym in a calculator: 551484. SWEET HUH.), the band is slugging it out, confounding bloggers with their vaguely political name and early ’90s college rock throwback sound. But if you’re like me and never got over In The Aeroplane Over the Sea and still light up at the mention of Archers of Loaf, then your hornrimmed glasses will fog up with delight/mouthbreathing.

Here’s a good SSLYBY/551484 sampler:

There, and now you love them.
Still, I’d rather listen to NPR’s David Sedaris yammer on about pissing into a cup. God that’s depressing.

Tour dates (shamelessly lifted from Filer’s site) after the jump. (more…)