The Kooks and Girl In The Year Above

Arriving on the British indie rock scene in 2006 were vocalist and guitarist Luke Pritchard, lead guitarist and synth player Hugh Harris, drummer Alexis Nunez and bassist Peter Denton (the original bassist was Max Rafferty, who left in 2008 and original drummer Paul Garred was eventually replaced due to a nerve problem in his arm, making him unable to play live).

The four Brighton boys that make up The Kooks joined the likes of the fresh-faced Arctic Monkeys in releasing their debut album in the mid naughties; theirs recorded in Konk studios, London in 2005 and entitled “Inside In/Inside Out.” Although they were a little overshadowed by Arctic Monkey’s simultaneous release and instant success, the album received great critical acclaim and massive chart success in their UK home, eventually securing the number two position in the Albums Chart for two consecutive weeks. The album was also certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and launched their mainstream success, winning them the Best UK and Ireland Act at the 2006 MTV Awards.

Singles from their debut album such as “She Moves in Her Own Way” and “Naïve” broke the top ten in the UK singles chart and achieved success in charts in Europe too. The latter single being covered in Radio One’s Live Lounge sessions by British songstress Lily Allen cemented the band’s wide reaching appeal and demonstrated their strength in song writing skills. With influences like The Rolling Stones, The Strokes and Bob Dylan, this particular skill certainly didn't happen by mistake.

Their second album, “Konk” (named after the studio in which the first and second album were recorded) was released in 2008 and went straight to number one in the UK Albums Chart and was certified gold in the UK and Ireland. Single “Always Where I Need to Be” even achieved chart success in the US, reaching number 22 in the Alternative Songs Billboard chart.

In 2009 The Kooks began working on their third studio album (also recorded on label Virgin Records, as with their preceding albums). However, work was slow and after moving between new producers and writing methods to finally work with producer Tony Hoffer again, front man Pritchard announced in January 2011 that they had finally recorded fourteen tracks. Two months later the release date of 12th September 2011 for “Junk of the Heart” was announced and the album released with a more modern sound than before.

The Kooks then released a new single in April 2014 from their album, “Listen” released the following September. With surprise slots at festivals like Glastonbury, this particular year felt a little like a come back for The Kooks with Pritchard stating himself “that kind of fearlessness when you make the first album kind of crept back in.”