The Kooks

The UK band The Kooks was formed by college students in Brighton in 2004. Three musicians, Hugh Harris, Paul Garred, and Luke Pritchard met in high school. In college, they became friends with Max Rafferty.

Pritchard was the one, who got the idea to form a band. It happened in a clothing store where he and Garred were shopping. Later, in one of his interviews, Garred said that the young artists had a clear idea of what a famous musician should look like. So they began with buying outfits. The young men started getting together to play for fun. Soon they got a chance to perform in public.

Since 2003, the lineup of The Kook’s hasn’t changed dramatically. The only serious change took place in 2003 when a bass guitar player Dan Logan replaced Max Rafferty. Three other group members are a guitar player and a vocalist Luke Pritchard, a drummer Paul Garred, and a guitarist and back vocalist Hugh Harris. The group members note that they found inspiration in the work of such artists as The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Chris de Burgh, and Bob Dylan.

From the moment of the formation, the band went a long way. They became favorites of many music critics. The musicians performed as opening acts for such famous bands as The Subways and The Thrills. The group began conquering the music industry with a single “Eddie’s Gun”. Their debut song settled on the 35th spot of the UK Singles Chart. Then came other top singles, such as “You Don't Love Me” and “Sofa Song”.

In 2006, the group released its first album, Inside In/Inside Out. For six months, it has stayed in the top 20 of the British charts. More than 500,000 copies were sold. The album earned three platinum statuses in the UK. For the album, the band released six successful singles, among which were the abovementioned hits. Their first tour of America took place in 2006. The same year, The Kooks earned prizes for the Best UK & Ireland Act at MTV Europe Music Awards. The band was also nominated for Q Awards as best new group.

The hit single, “She Moves In Her Own Way”, released in 2006, became platinum. So did “Naïve”. Another single from the debut album, “Time Awaits” was unusual and earned positive reviews form both the critics and the fans. One more single “I Want You Back” showed a melancholic and pessimistic side of the group.

In 2008, The Kooks presented the second LP, Konk. The album’s producer was an American Tony Hoffer. In one of his interviews to NME.com, Pritchard shared that the band wrote about 80 to 90 songs, ready to be released. The album’s track list featured about 15 songs. The LP was released on two discs. The second disc, RAK, featured nine bonus tracks. It reached the 2nd spot of the UK Albums Chart.

The next LP, Junk Of The Heart, came out in 2011. In April, The Kooks told BBC that they began working on a new album. Due to health problems, Paul had to leave the band. Other drummers replaced him. Eventually, Paul returned.

In 2014, the band presented its next LP, Listen. Its lead single “Down” became a big hit. The album itself came in 16th on the UK Albums Chart. In 2015, the band presented a new album, Hello, What's Your Name? , which featured remixes to the songs from Listen.

In 2018, the group recorded its fifth LP, Let’s Go Sunshine. The artists started working on it back in 2015. But after some time, they rejected the songs and started from scratch. For the new LP, the musicians presented such popular singles as “All The Time” and “No Pressure”. The album came in 9th on the UK Albums Chart.