Dictionary.com defines a ‘kook’ as
follows: 1. an eccenric, strange, or foolish
person. 2. an insane person. Little can be said to
differ from the band of the same name. When The
Kooks formed at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music,
where they were all students, they chose a band name
from a song off the 1971 David Bowie album Hunky Dory,
entitled "Kooks". It could have easily been Ziggy
Stardust, but that seems like a male stripper, no? Each
shared a liking for the Police, the Strokes, the Everly
Brothers, and Funkadelic, and the bandmates began
funneling such influences into their own sweet and
precocious sound in 2005. Before the year's end, the
British foursome was releasing singles for Virgin UK.
"Eddie's Gun" and "Sofa Song" did moderately well on
the U.K. singles chart; however, the romantic playfulness
of "You Don't Love Me" eventually gave the band its first
ever Top 20 hit.
The Kooks' debut full-length, Inside In/Inside Out,
arrived in January 2006, and the band played Brighton's
Free Butt festival, and were instantly signed to Virgin
Records. Luke Pritchard, singer and gutiarist, wrote The
Kooks' hit song "Naïve", the bands fifthe single that
landed at number 5 by the spring of 2006, when he was
only 16 years old, which after release catapulted the debut
album, Inside In/Inside Out into the UK Top 20 charts for
follows: 1. an eccenric, strange, or foolish
person. 2. an insane person. Little can be said to
differ from the band of the same name. When The
Kooks formed at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music,
where they were all students, they chose a band name
from a song off the 1971 David Bowie album Hunky Dory,
entitled "Kooks". It could have easily been Ziggy
Stardust, but that seems like a male stripper, no? Each
shared a liking for the Police, the Strokes, the Everly
Brothers, and Funkadelic, and the bandmates began
funneling such influences into their own sweet and
precocious sound in 2005. Before the year's end, the
British foursome was releasing singles for Virgin UK.
"Eddie's Gun" and "Sofa Song" did moderately well on
the U.K. singles chart; however, the romantic playfulness
of "You Don't Love Me" eventually gave the band its first
ever Top 20 hit.
The Kooks' debut full-length, Inside In/Inside Out,
arrived in January 2006, and the band played Brighton's
Free Butt festival, and were instantly signed to Virgin
Records. Luke Pritchard, singer and gutiarist, wrote The
Kooks' hit song "Naïve", the bands fifthe single that
landed at number 5 by the spring of 2006, when he was
only 16 years old, which after release catapulted the debut
album, Inside In/Inside Out into the UK Top 20 charts for
more than half of 2006. The album has sold more than a million copies and has attained triple platinum status.
Hot on the heels of their international success, the Kooks made their American performance debut at the annual South by
Southwest conference in Austin, TX, in March, and the U.S. version of Inside In/Inside Out arrived on Astralwerks in October 2006.
Two years later, the Kooks returned with Konk, an album they hoped had a "bigger" sound than their debut. The album's arrival
coincided with the announcement that Rafferty had left the band and was replaced by former Cat the Dog bassist Dan Logan
The Kooks released a debut EP and played Brighton's Free Butt festival, and were instantly signed to Virgin Records. Luke
Pritchard, singer and gutiarist, wrote The Kooks' hit song "Naïve" when he was only 16 years old, which after release catapulted the
debut album, Inside In/Inside Out into the UK Top 20 charts for more than half of 2006. The album has sold more than a million copies
and has attained triple platinum status.
Luke, lead guitarist Hugh Harris, bassist Max Rafferty and drummer Paul Garred quickly came to be regarded as a classic British
song-writing outfit, able to stand alongside The Kinks, Oasis, Coldplay or any number of others you care to mention, simply because
they understand what makes pop-rock music great.
Their second studio album, Konk, has been produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, The Fratellis) and was released on 14 April 2008.
Indeed, in Konk The Kooks' fanbase will find plenty to recall the freewheeling spirit that made Inside In/Inside Out a true word-of-
mouth success – one of those rare cultural phenomena that grew and grew the more people heard it – while others will be aware just
how much they've subtly upped their game. [End.]
Hot on the heels of their international success, the Kooks made their American performance debut at the annual South by
Southwest conference in Austin, TX, in March, and the U.S. version of Inside In/Inside Out arrived on Astralwerks in October 2006.
Two years later, the Kooks returned with Konk, an album they hoped had a "bigger" sound than their debut. The album's arrival
coincided with the announcement that Rafferty had left the band and was replaced by former Cat the Dog bassist Dan Logan
The Kooks released a debut EP and played Brighton's Free Butt festival, and were instantly signed to Virgin Records. Luke
Pritchard, singer and gutiarist, wrote The Kooks' hit song "Naïve" when he was only 16 years old, which after release catapulted the
debut album, Inside In/Inside Out into the UK Top 20 charts for more than half of 2006. The album has sold more than a million copies
and has attained triple platinum status.
Luke, lead guitarist Hugh Harris, bassist Max Rafferty and drummer Paul Garred quickly came to be regarded as a classic British
song-writing outfit, able to stand alongside The Kinks, Oasis, Coldplay or any number of others you care to mention, simply because
they understand what makes pop-rock music great.
Their second studio album, Konk, has been produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, The Fratellis) and was released on 14 April 2008.
Indeed, in Konk The Kooks' fanbase will find plenty to recall the freewheeling spirit that made Inside In/Inside Out a true word-of-
mouth success – one of those rare cultural phenomena that grew and grew the more people heard it – while others will be aware just
how much they've subtly upped their game. [End.]
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