The Kooks
This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. |
The Kooks | |
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pop-rock | |
Years active | 2004–present |
Labels | Virgin, EMI |
Members |
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Past members |
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Website | thekooks |
The Kooks ( The band consists of Luke Pritchard (vocals/rhythm guitar), Hugh Harris (lead guitar/synthesizer/bass) and Alexis Nunez (drums).
Their music is primarily influenced by the 1960s
Signed to
History
Formation and early years (2002–2004)
Three members (Garred, Pritchard and Harris) of the Kooks all met as students at the
Taking their name from the David Bowie song with the same title, Pritchard said the first song they played as a group was a cover version of the Strokes' "Reptilia".[10] The Kooks recorded an EP demo, sending it out in search of gigs; they instead received offers from managers and record companies.[9] The band had only been together as a group for four months when they signed with Virgin Records,[9] after being spotted by several label scouts at the Brighton Free Butt Festival in 2005.[11] In an interview with musicOMH, Pritchard revealed "It was really quick how it all happened, we did a demo with a mate of ours in London, which we sent off to one guy to get some gigs, and he turned out to be a manager. He rung us up and it kind of went from there."[10] The members of the band have since revealed that they felt they weren't ready at the time, "We were way too early to sign a record deal ... We were really young, we'd been together like two or three months, so we really didn't want to sign. But then we thought it's a really good opportunity and Virgin seemed like really cool people – they just seemed to really understand where we were coming from",[10] said Pritchard, who has also complimented the space the record label allowed for the band to grow: "They were patient with us and let us develop our style, whatever it was."[9]
Inside In/Inside Out (2005–2007)
After they had signed to Virgin Records, the Kooks were reluctant to record an album straight away, stating a desire to focus more on their live performances and songwriting. The band has said embarking on their first live tour instead of recording an album initially helped them develop their style and sound. As Pritchard claimed, "We didn’t sit down with a blueprint. We just naturally developed and we didn’t try to shape or mould ourselves to anything."[12] As a result, they went into the studio with hundreds of songs from a variety of genres, and it took an "incredible amount of patience" from producer Tony Hoffer to shape the content into what would become the record.[9]
Following their first tour supporting
Kev Kharas, in his review for Drowned in Sound, viewed the Kooks as "a less irreverent and more melodic Art Brut, swapping that band's caustic wit for a far nicer type of honesty."[18] Kharas also noted traces of "emo" in the band's style.[18] AllMusic's Tim Sendra noted that the band's direction was "heavily indebted to classic rock", in particular Thin Lizzy and the Dexys, ultimately though Sendra felt "the band sounds like the Kooks and no one else". Calling the Kooks "an important reminder that there are just as many mediocre bands in the UK as there are in the United States" reviewer Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone claimed the album was "utterly forgettable, shoddily produced retro rock that at its worst sounds like a Brighton-accented version of the Spin Doctors".[19] Brian Belardi of Prefix gave a positive review, describing Inside In/Inside Out as "An almost-perfect blend of '60s-style Britpop, '90s-style Britpop, and the post-punk of the new millennium".[2]
The album went on to be certified quadruple platinum in the UK by the
Rafferty's departure and Konk (2008)
Rafferty was fired from the band on 31 January 2008, after a series of absences due to illness and long-standing rumours about his place in the band;
The Kooks released their second album, Konk, in April 2008. The record was named after the studio where it was recorded and produced by Tony Hoffer, who worked on the band's debut album, Inside In/Inside Out.[28] Prior to releasing the album, in an interview with NME, lead singer Luke Pritchard had claimed to have 80-90 songs written for the album, stating, "I want this album to be big……I've got an ego, I want the album to do well. I want our singles to come on the radio and for people to literally have their heads blown off by them".[29] Recorded over a total of seven weeks in London and Los Angeles Pritchard told NME the band had wanted more input into their second album. "Tony's a genius, but this time we wanted more involvement in the production," said Pritchard.[28]
Konk went on to debut on the UK Albums Chart at number one with first week sales of 65,901 units.[30] The album also spawned three top 50 hits including their highest chart performer to date, "Always Where I Need to Be", which peaked at number three. In the United States, it reached number 41 on the
Junk of the Heart (2009–2013)
In April 2009, the Kooks revealed to BBC's
In January 2011, Pritchard announced that they had recorded fourteen new tracks. The band announced via social media that they had finished the new album on 30 March, which was eventually announced as Junk of the Heart. The first single taken from the album was "Is It Me" for Europe and "Junk of the Heart" elsewhere. The album was released in Europe on 9 September 2011 and in the U.K. on 12 September. Garred appeared in the promotional videos for "Is It Me" and "Junk of the Heart", and performed with the band in live sessions for Live from Abbey Road and Live Lounge. But for 2011 shows in the months prior to the album's release, Prendergast was still on drums, and when the band went on tour in October, they brought in session drummer Denny Weston who continued until mid-2012. Garred finally left the band in November,[36] with Alexis Nunez (formerly of Golden Silvers) joining in mid-2012 as The Kooks' new touring drummer before eventually becoming a full member.
Listen (2014–2016)
On 20 April 2014 they released a new single titled "
During the band's North America tour in mid-2015, Denton took two weeks of paternity leave to attend to the birth of his second son; Denny Weston, who was the Kooks' tour drummer prior to Nunez joining, filled in on bass.[42]
The Best of... So Far (2017)
On 21 November 2016, the Kooks announced a 'Best Of' UK Tour to take place in April and May 2017 to mark their tenth anniversary as a band, in which they were planning to perform hits, b-sides and brand new music.[43] To coincide with the tour, on 31 March 2017 the band announced the upcoming release of The Best of... So Far, as well as releasing "Be Who You Are", one of two new songs included on the compilation.[44] Pritchard stressed that this compilation and tour did not signal the end of the band, stating, "It's been the greatest pleasure to work, travel, fight, hate and love the best and most talented people I've met in my life. It's the greatest job in the world and we don't intend to stop any time soon."[45]
The two new tracks were produced by Brandon Friesen, who had also been overseeing sessions for the band's next studio album. Consisting of songs written by Pritchard while the other band members spent time with their families, the new album is deemed to be more of a band effort, as opposed to Listen which was constructed individually. "This one’s very much 'us' – all rehearsing songs, all arranging songs, all playing together. It’s got the same sort of energy that we had on our first couple of albums, which we were probably running away from a little bit for a while, but now we’ve gone back to it," said Pritchard. "Brandon Friesen, our producer, has taken more of a production role than me, so I won’t be taking the credit. On Listen, me and Inflo worked together everyday. But this one’s been much more of a band record. It’s been far more collaborative."[46]
On 8 April 2017, the Kooks decided to start the tour with two warm up shows in their spiritual home of Brighton, a matinee gig at The Prince Albert pub and The Haunt in the evening; both these sold out within two hours on the day of the gig. They subsequently performed at the Isle of Wight Festival 2017.[47]
Let's Go Sunshine (2018)
On 16 May 2018, The Kooks announced that their upcoming fifth studio album will be released on 31 August 2018. They also shared two new songs called ‘No Pressure’ and ‘All the Time’ which were played by them earlier this year during The Best Of Tour in South America. Several songs including ’No Pressure,’ ’All the Time,’ and ’Fractured and Dazed’ were released prior to the release of the full album.
On 4 September, the band announced a U.S. tour to take place in November.[48] On 30 October, the band announced that the U.S. tour had to be rescheduled for early 2019 due to "unforeseen circumstances."[49] When the band resumed performing at the Corona Capital festival in Mexico on 17 November 2018, Pete Denton was absent, with Peter Randall - who had previously played bass for Adele[50] - in his place. Denton was also missing from subsequent shows.[51]
The band addressed Denton's absence by announcing on 3 January 2019 via their Twitter account that Denton was no longer playing with the band.[52] On the same day, Denton responded via his personal account that the position was "complicated" and that his advisers had told him not to discuss the matter for the time being.[53]
After being unable to tour in 2020 due to COVID-19, The Kooks made their live return at Tramlines Festival on 23 July 2021 with Jonathan Harvey on bass duties.[54]
Connection EP and 10 Tracks to Echo in the Dark (2022)
In January 2022, the band released the EP Connection featuring the single "Connection", and announced the album 10 Tracks to Echo in the Dark.[55] In April 2022, the band released the single "Beautiful World" which features German duo Milky Chance. In June 2022, the band released another single "Cold Heart".
Musical style and influences
"It's just like an idea, like a chorus, and then we just jam on it – it happens in loads of different ways. The best songs I find always come from the subconscious, like when you don't think. Not to be pretentious about it, but usually songs just blurt out rather than thinking about it. I never write lyrics and then do a song, I find that really hard – that's like a real skill."
— Pritchard on The Kooks' song-writing[10]
The Kooks have mentioned drawing on a number of varied sources to create their sound, listing the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Chris de Burgh among influences on songwriting style and musical presentation over the course of their four albums.[10]
The band's debut album
On the follow-up Konk, the band attempted to find a more mature and polished sound. Drawing on a much wider choice of material for the album (about 80 to 90 new songs had been accumulated within the band's repertoire by this stage), the band began to incorporate more a hard-edged rock focus into their music.[56] Critics drew comparisons to the work of The Kinks throughout the album, it being recorded at the studio owned by Ray Davies.[57] Also noted were the band’s growing similarities in musical direction to The Fratellis and the Arctic Monkeys.[58] "I think we've made a dynamic album", Pritchard said. "Every song has its own character. It's a good pop album."[28]
Their fourth album, Listen, includes much more percussion and cross rhythms than previous material.[38] Pritchard described Listen as "percussion sonnets".[38] "The first couple albums I made I never really thought about rhythms, I focused on the recording and the lyrics", Pritchard said.[38]
The band's music has variously been described as
Band members
Current members
- Luke Pritchard – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar (2004–present)
- Hugh Harris – lead guitar, backing vocals, piano, keyboards (2004–present), bass (2008–present), rhythm guitar (2004–2008, 2018–present)
- Alexis Nunez – drums, percussion (2012–present)[62]
Current touring musicians
- Jonathan Harvey – bass, backing vocals (2021–present)
Former members
- Peter Denton – bass, backing vocals, rhythm guitar (2008–2018)
- Max Rafferty – bass, backing vocals (2004–2008)
- Paul Garred – drums, percussion (2004–2009, 2010–2012)
Former touring musicians
- Nicholas Millard – drums and percussion (2008)
- Dan Logan – bass, backing vocals (2008)
- Chris Prendergast – drums and percussion (2010–2011)
- Denny Weston – drums (2011–2012), bass (2015)
- Thom Kirkpatrick – synthesizer (2011–2012)
- Jack Berkeley – guitar, percussion, backing vocals (2013–2015)
- Peter Randall – bass, backing vocals (2018–2019)
Timeline
Discography
- Inside In / Inside Out (2006)
- Konk (2008)
- Junk of the Heart (2011)
- Listen (2014)
- Let's Go Sunshine (2018)
- 10 Tracks to Echo in the Dark (2022)
References
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