The Kooks on purevolume™

Indie / Blues

New Album Due for release on 14/04/2008! Click here to order yours now.

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The first thing to learn about The Kooks (named, need we mention, after the track of the same name on Hunky Dory) is that, as their name suggests, they like to take a chance. But lets get nineteen year old singer Luke Pritchard to explain:

"Bands tend to do one thing and then stick to it" he says, constructing a roll-up beneath a tangle of Syd Barrett-esque curls.

With The Kooks we plan to do the opposite. When theres so much music to explore, why limit yourself ?

Brightons The Kooks are that rarest of pop entities: a scuzzy, fresh-faced group to fully restore your faith in the holy grail of English singer-songwriting stretching from Supergrass via (early) Blur to The Kinks and beyond. Their songs are crammed full of incidents on buses, bedroom mishaps -more of which later- and stinging teenage putdowns which will strike a chord with anyone whos ever found themselves fumbling for clues on the sofa, but theyre also blessed with a cheerful irreverence most record companies would prefer was preserved in amber rather than rampaging across the nations venues. It doesnt end there. Pin-sharp and scarily young (guitarist Hugh usurps Jared Followill as the youngest man in rock, having just turned seventeen), they also possess record collections which date back to the dawn of time.

In the course of an hour The Kooks (Luke: vocals,guitar; Hugh Harris; lead guitar, Max Rafferty; bass, Paul Garred; drums) will happily rave about everyone from The Police to The Everley Brothers to Funkadelic to the component parts of medieval folk. Probe further and it turns out the first song they played together was The Strokes Reptilia.

Conducting his own research program into the likes Of Neil Young, Nick Drake and Chuck Berry, Luke recruited louche bassist Max Rafferty (first gig: Jacques Loussier) and under the tutor-duping disguise of a school project set about becoming The Kooks. Snapped up by Virgin following an incendiary four-song debut at the Brighton Free Butt, they have since found themselves heckled in Stoke, playing to horrifying ghouls (an ill-fated Halloween bash in Liverpool) and mobbed on a national tour with The Thrills, all the while fine-tuning their youthful assault in a dis-used bread factory.

We all write songs and all love loads of different music so we argue a lot about how and what to play" continues Luke.

Thats what rehearsing is about for us. But because of the way Max and Hugh play theres a soul and reggae feel to what we do which is vital. Were a groove rocknroll band who want to make people dance..

First proof comes with The Kooks incredible debut single Eddies Gun. A grinding speed rocker beginning with Luke screeching Did you see the way she looked at me? amid an almighty shower of drumming, it ends with a four instrument pile-up and is as deeply impressive as a debut single gets. Second track Sofa Song is -whisper it- even better.

To these ears theyre the finest, most ecstatic celebration of youthful misdemanours since Supergrasss Caught By The Fuzz or -pass grandads ear-trumpet- The Whos Pictures Of Lily. After all, as Max candidly points out, Eddies Gun is about erectile dysfunction.

The mind boggles at what the album (scheduled for 2006) will be like.

I want the album to include all types of music, no genres excluded continues Luke, another long afternoon of rehearsals ahead.

From Bobby Womack to The Clash! beams Max.

We dont want to hide from taking risks,adds Luke.

I liked the fact The Corals first album dared to be different. Thats what groups are there to do. We want to challenge whats expected of us. But right now were about making great pop music. So many bands are scared of pop and they shouldnt be. When its good, theres nothing better. And we mean to have fun with it !

The Kooks: hung up on romancing.
(Bio extracted from TheKooks.co.uk)

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The Unofficial Kooks PureVolume website. No profit in anyway is being made by the creator of this PureVolume page from The Kooks media that is contained on this website.

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