Artist of the Week: The Kooks

The Kooks, a band that was started in Brighton, East Sussex, bring a great contribution to the Indie Rock/Pop genre.

Currently, the band has four members. Lead vocalist and guitarist, Luke Pritchard formed the band with former drummer Paul Garred in 2004. Taking the drummer’s place was Alexis Nunez. Peter Denton is the band’s third and current bassist. Hugh Harris is the original and current lead guitarist and synth player of the band.

The Kooks describe their music as pop, influenced by the British Invasion which took place in the 1960s. They also add that they are influenced by post-punk revival of the new millennium.

The band has been experimenting with genres for a while and continue to do so, recently exposing themselves to a funk/hip-hop sound.

Unlike similar bands in this field, The Kooks were almost immediately successful. Their debut album, Inside In/Inside Out, reached quadruple platinum in the United Kingdom in the span of a year. They also reached platinum in Australia, and twice in Ireland. They didn’t have any problems getting signed to records, signing to Virgin Records three months after establishing.

The album featured three hit singles, “Naive,” “She Moves in Her Own Way,” and “You Don’t Love me.”

In 2008, the band released Konk, a second album with a name inspired by the studio it was recorded in. The album became extremely successful.

In 2011, a two-year anticipated album of theirs was released, being Junk of the Heart. Although they were going through the loss of their original drummer and the adaption of their new one, the band released the LP September 12.

As for now, the band is still touring for their Fourth album, Listen, which has hit No. 16 on UK Albums Chart.