The Kooks

EMMA LEE

UEALCR,Norwich

"Fashionably late" was how Kooks frontman Luke Pritchard described their arrival at UEA's LCR on Sunday night. The band had been due to play in October, but had to postpone because the singer had throat problems. But it was worth the wait. Overcoming the school" tag (like Amy Winehouse and Pritchard's former girlfriend, Katie Melua, they're graduates of the Brit school) they're one of the year's biggest bands. They're a real musical mix and match - there's ska, punk, folk and more - sometimes all within a three-minute song. And unlike some of their contemporaries they have the pop sensibility to really pull it off - as shown on tracks like Naïve and Sofa Song.

The set started with a sing-along version of Seaside, the opening track on their debut album Inside In/ Inside Out. There was really no need for Pritchard to turn up at all, seeing as most of the audience knew the songs off by heart. And he joked: "You know the words better than I do". The set did feel a bit on the short side, but a real stand-out was She Moves In Her Own Way. One of the anthems of the summer, it sounded just as good on a chilly December night.