Junk of the Heart

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Junk of the Heart is the third album from british Indie band The Kooks. It was released in Europe on September 9, 2011, and in the United Kingdom on September 12, 2011 by Virgin Records. The first single, "Is It Me" was released on September 4, 2011 and the second single, "Junk Of The Heart (Happy)" was released on November 6, 2011.

Writing and recording

In April 2009, The Kooks revealed to BBC's Newsbeat that they were working on their third studio album. Frontman Luke Pritchard told Newsbeat, "We kind of barricaded ourselves in the countryside for a few weeks—stayed at some friend's who have a cottage in Norfolk." Pritchard recently revealed that over two weeks there, the band only managed to make one new song: "Eskimo Kiss" (Track 11). Drummer Paul Garred left the band in late 2009, due to a nerve problem in his arm, and was temporarily replaced by Chris Prendergast for live shows. However, Paul returned for the recording sessions in late 2010, while continuing to not tour with the band, as Pritchard recently stated his injury "turned into a phsychological thing". After hiring and firing new producer Jim Abyss (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Adele) despite having some "really good sessions" together, the band returned to old Producer Tony Hoffer who gave them a "new direction" and they recorded the album in a more contemporary style to previously. In January 2011, Pritchard announced that they had recorded fourteen new tracks. The band announced via social media that they finished the final touches on 30 March. Finally, the album name was announced as Junk of the Heart (The title of the opening track) and tracklist details released, with a release date of 12 September 2011 for England. The album was produced by Tony Hoffer. The first single taken from the album is titled "Is It Me" in Europe and "Junk of the Heart" elsewhere.

Critical Reception

Spin gave the album a 6/10, calling the tracks "both their best and blandest yet." Reviewer Barry Walters added, "The middle of the road was always their destiny, it seems, and they arrive with blatantly pleasant but character-free ditties."

Album contenders

Weight Of The World, Winds Of Change, Window to the Soul, Strange One, Rainbow, Carried Away and The Saboteur were among many contenders to be put on the album, however many of them came from earlier recording sessions with Jim Abyss (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Adele). Despite having some "really good sessions" with Abyss, in the end they went back and "found a new direction" with old producer Tony Hoffer and decided to scrap the earlier sessions. Despite this, Luke brought in one of these songs, "The Saboteur", to BBC1 Zane Lowe's radio program in an interview and released it as a free single on its own. Although this song "didn't quite fit" on the album it was eventually added as a bonus track, along with "Carried Away", which came from the Tony Hoffer sessions.

B-Sides

Is It Me: | Winds Of Change (The Magic Shop, NYC) | Outstanding (Demo) | Stormy Weather (Live In Hartlepool)

Junk Of The Heart: | Pumped Up Kicks (BBC Live Version) | Eskimo Kiss (Acoustic Live Version) | Runaway (Acoustic Live Version)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
NME	(4/10)
Spin
The Tune

Track listing

All songs written by The Kooks. Produced By Tony Hoffer ("Good Times" Produced By Jim Abbis)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Junk of the Heart (Happy)"	3:07
2.	"How'd You Like That"	3:14
3.	"Rosie"	3:10
4.	"Taking Pictures of You"	2:42
5.	"Fuck the World Off"	2:52
6.	"Time Above the Earth"	1:54
7.	"Runaway"	3:00
8.	"Is It Me"	3:30
9.	"Killing Me"	3:25
10.	"Petulia"	2:42
11.	"Eskimo Kiss"	3:34
12.	"Mr. Nice Guy"	2:40

iTunes bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Carried Away"	4:02
14.	"The Saboteur (The Magic Shop, NYC)"	4:34

Amazon bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Picture Frame"	3:02

Japanese Limited Edition bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Good Times (The Magic Shop, NYC)"	4:41

Charts

Charts (2011)	Peak position
Belgian Albums Chart	34
Canadian Albums Chart	54
Dutch Albums Chart	6
Irish Albums Chart	41
UK Albums Chart	10