The Kooks
The Kooks |
|---|
The Kooks (Template:PronEng) are an indie rock band based in the United Kingdom. The band was formed in Brighton, England, in 2004, and currently consists of guitarist and lead vocalist Luke Pritchard, lead guitarist and back up vocalist Hugh Harris, drummer Paul Garred and temporary bassist Dan Logan, who replaced Max Rafferty in 2008. They have released two studio albums, both achieved commendable success on the UK Albums Chart, with their 2006 debut album Inside In/Inside Out peaking at #2, and their 2008 follow up Konk peaking at #1.
History
Early Days
The band formed at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music, where they were all students. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Luke Pritchard who was born in the Yorkshire seaside town of Saltburn, got bassist Ewan McGee involved in a college project, which formed the base of the band. After getting lead guitarist Hugh Harris and drummer Paul Garred involved, they chose a band name from a song off the 1971 David Bowie album Hunky Dory, entitled "Kooks". When Virgin tried to trademark the name, they found that in the late/mid 1990s a Swedish band by the same name released a single in Sweden called "Too Much of Nothing".[1]
The Kooks released a debut EP and played Brighton's Free Butt festival, and were instantly signed to Virgin Records. Pritchard 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. During a promo tour, the band refused to be interviewed on Channel 4's Popworld after presenter Simon Amstell made repeated references to Pritchard's ex-girlfriend.[2]
2006 Debut Album
The group released Inside In/Inside Out and went on their first US tour in October 2006, selling out shows both in New York and Los Angeles.[3]. They also played at the Reading/Leeds festivals in the NME/Radio 1 Tent.
Among the band's honours are a nomination for Best New Act at the 2006 Q Awards and the award for Best UK and Ireland Act at the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards and had one nomination at The BRIT Awards and a shortlist nomination.
2007 B-Sides & Demos (Unreleased Album)
Put together in the year 2007, The Kooks-B-Sides & Demos Unreleased Album consists of a collection of unheard acoustic, B-Side and Live Session tracks, written and played by them over the 2 years that they have been around. (this didn't happen)
The band released Pull Me In as a non-album single around Christmas 2007. The single failed to chart.
2008 and Second Studio Album
Their second studio album, Konk, has been produced by Tony Hoffer and was released on 14 April 2008.[4] In an interview with NME.com, Pritchard revealed that the band have "80 or 90" songs written and ready to record. "I want this album to be big," he said. "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."[5]
Bassist Max Rafferty officially left the band on 31th January after long standing rumours and an on-off absence from the band[6]. Dan Logan, bassist with "Cat the Dog," was brought in as a temporary replacement[6], although Pritchard revealed that he might join the act on permanent basis: "It's been really strange for us but it's something that had to happen. Dan hasn’t joined the band properly yet. We're trying him out, but I love playing with him."[7]
The first single off the album was played on Zane Lowe's radio show on 5 February. The name of the album, Konk, was named the Zane Lowe most anticipated album.
'Konk' went straight to Number 1 in the UK Album chart, and also enterted in at 2nd in the Irish Chart.
The Kooks were featured on the cover of Beyond Race magazine for the publication's summer 2008, 2nd Anniversary issue.
The Kooks recently announced that the next single from the album will be "Shine On", although recent tabloid reports have reported the band filming the new video in Paris for "Do You Wanna" instead.
'RAK' is the second part of a limited edition 2 disc version of 'Konk'. It contains 9 extra tracks including an alternate version of 'See the Sun' and a home demo called 'Brooklyn'.
The Kooks will be performing in front of 40,000 people at the Isle Of MTV 2008 at the Floriana granaries, Malta, on 25th June 2008, and the entrance will be free.[8][9]
Notable performances
- Supported The Rolling Stones on their A Bigger Bang Tour at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales in 2006.
- Performed on the Album Chart Show at midnight on Saturday 18 March, 2006.
- Played at Radio 1's Big Weekend, Europe's largest free festival in Dundee on 15 March, 2006 and Maidstone in Kent on 11 May 2008.
- Performed "Ooh La", "Naive" and "She Moves In Her Own Way" at the "Jools Holland Annual Hootenanny 2006".
- Recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road in August 2006.
- Played at the Glastonbury festival in June 2007.
- Played on the Main Stage at OXEGEN 2007 in July.
- Played on the Channel 4 stage at the V Festival in August 2007.
- Played at the Doncaster Dome in August 2007, playing some of their new songs.
- Played with The Wellingtons at Portsmouth Guildhall in the summer of 2004.
- Played at the Eastbourne Winter Gardens in August 2006.
- Played at Dublin Castle with The Coronas in May 2008.
- Played at Radio 1's Big Weekend in May 2008.
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
| Year | Song | UK Singles Chart | UK Download Chart | Irish Singles Chart | US Modern Rock | Netherlands Singles Chart | Italian Singles Chart | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Sofa Song" | 28 | - | - | - | - | - | Inside In/Inside Out |
| "Eddie's Gun" | 35 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2006 | "You Don't Love Me" | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | |
| "Naïve" | 5 | 2 | - | 22 | 40 | 31 | ||
| "She Moves in Her Own Way" | 7 | 8 | - | 39 | 35 | - | ||
| "Ooh La" | 20 | 20 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2007 | "Pull Me In" | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2008 | "Always Where I Need to Be" | 3 | 4 | - | 26 | 27 | 41 | Konk |
| "Do You Wanna" | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR | TBR |
References
- "The Kooks - All Hunky Dory" by Jeremy Lloyd, musicOMH.com, October 2005, retrieved November 19, 2006.
- "Meet the Kooks!" music.com, November 15, 2006, retrieved January 18, 2007.
- "Loveline" retrieved April 5 2007
- ^ Their entry on the Music Video Database
- ^ A video of the interview
- ^ http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2006/08/the_kooks_playi.html first US tour
- ^ The Guardian - 'I am a hit machine ... I just roll 'em out!'
- ^ The Kooks start work on new album
- ^ a b Kooks bassist quits the band
- ^ NME
- ^ http://www.isleofmtv.com
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfIp92BnjiU