RC - Album cover analysis: The Kooks - 'Konk'

I have chosen to analyse this album cover because I am not only attracted to the appealing aesthetics of this cover but I also recognise that the band, The Kooks, is of an indie genre similar to The Enemy.

Typical conventions of an 'indie' album cover normally include abstract, artistic images, which provide ambiguous meanings, so from this point of view this album cover can be considered as unconventional of the indie genre. This is supported by the presence of the artists' on this cover, as it is generally perceived that artists of the indie genre do not like to appear on their album covers. I believe that this is because they like to keep up the pretence of being more about the music, as most indie artists feel that featuring on their own covers' portrays them as being too concerned over the construction of their star persona. However, it appears that The Kooks are happy to feature on their own album; this can either suggest that they are concerned about the commercial side and therefore want to be recognised, or either, they simply feel that appearing on their own album cover is another artistic device that can relate to the indie genre.

The use of linguistic signs on this album cover imply a small number of things; where the two words 'The Kooks' come together to create the name of the band. This name could signify a few meanings, with the word 'the' being used to dominate presence (due to it being perceived as a superior word), as it suggests the opening of an article, or something of a similar importance. The use of the word 'Kooks' has quite a harsh effect, with the letter 'k' supporting this, as you almost spit out this letter, however, the use of the letter 'o' conveys more of a softer tone, as it has been used twice in this word but also next to one another; giving the word a more prolonged effect, which contrasts with the short, sharp impact of the letter 'k'. The word 'Kooks' can be viewed as a quirky way of spelling cook, giving the image of someone preparing a hot meal. However, I feel that this has no relevance at all to the band and therefore a more likely interpretation of this word is likely to be influenced by the definition of the word 'kook', which is described on www.definitions.net as,

'someone regarded as eccentric or crazy and standing out from a group'

This characterisation of the word works perfectly for this band, as bands who are categorised as 'indie' are labelled as being individualistic, mainly because of the word indie meaning independent. The addition of the letter 's' at the end of the word 'kook' implies more than one of, which relates strongly to the fact that these artists are a band and therefore each and every one of them is 'eccentric' and 'crazy'.

The word 'Konk', forms the title of the band's album, and has a similar effect as the word 'Kooks', primarily because of the use of the letters 'k' and 'o', which give contrasting effects (mentioned above). I researched this word and it appeared to have no real meaning, which I found is because this band chose it due to it being the name of the place where they recorded this album. When I read the work 'Konk, it reminds of words such as honk, and plonk, which are words that have an onomatopoeic effect to them, as they imitate the source of sound that they describe. The actions of 'honking' and 'plonking' are quite heavy actions and can imply anger or frustration. However, I feel that this interpretation of mine has no real relevance to the title of this album, and therefore I think that the word 'Konk' is not meant to have a considerable amount of connotations, as the band simply chose it for personal reasons.

The iconic signs evident on this album cover create a polysemic effect, as each sign offers a wide range of semiotics. The contrast of light on this cover signifies what is the most important element, where it seems the band themselves are being spotlighted, whilst the background is black giving very dark connotations. The appearance of the band's album title on this cover has a retro/80s feel to it, as the words are presented in a neon style, a style which is representative of the 80s. It seems that the colour of the these words, which is blue, is being used to segregate the words from the rest of the aesthetics of the cover, and the glow of the blue colour illuminates the band members. The band themselves seem to be standing in close proximity with each other, which suggests that they are close friends, therefore further supporting the independent streak to being indie. This is because independent artists more commonly form their own band themselves and do not rely on manufactured shows such as the 'X Factor'. The band members are all wearing informal styled clothes, which gives a relaxed impression and that 'star image' is not an important factor. Their clothes are very typical of the indie genre, with the colours ranging from brown, green and black but with all of them wearing a white t-shirt, strengthening the band's bond again as they all linked by the colour of their shirts. The body language of each member is very casual with none of them looking directly into the eye of the camera, implying that each of them have a nonchalant attitude. This once again establishes their lack of concern over their image, supporting Dyer's theory, to some extent, because he states that a star is not a person but an image that is constructed out of a range of materials, such as advertising, which seems to be a factor that The Kook's agree with.

There seems to be no obvious non-representational graphic signs on the cover, as on this particular image I have there is no bar code of parental advisory sign(s).

The juxtaposition of the text to the images is one that seems to follow one straight path, as when I look at the cover my eyes tend to follow the text from the top right to the text that is positioned slightly lower and more to the right and then eventually reaching the image of the band members. It is clear that the band is keen for their name to be received by their audience first, so that this is the first thing that they consume. This way of determining what the reader is going to see first amplifies the power that this band has in controlling audience consumption. The formula of signs is quite generic, where they relate to each other as what would be perceived in an 'ordinary' way, as most indie bands are quite authentic in terms of their music and its promotion. However, the inclusion of the neon lights has a sort of futuristic, techno vibe to it, a vibe that most indie bands do not seek to include, with reference to this it would seem that this album cover could also be considered as 'extraordinary'.

The social myths that this album cover draws upon can be considered by some people as post-modern, as it can be viewed that this indie band is breaking the rules and not conforming to their genre by including the neon lights. It is also post-modern in the way that audiences' can construct their on image through the consumption of this text, which is supported by the fact that the band is present on their album cover, making it easier for audiences to access and be inspired from the band's personal image. The fact that the band is present on their cover can be denoted as a way of them conforming to some stereotypes of popular culture, as most bands of this genre use art as a way of designing their covers to appeal to the fact that they are more about the music than the band image an ideal that 'The Kooks' have not followed themselves due to their presence on the cover, which is something that most pop artists commonly do as well.