My current band of the moment is The Kooks. I love their quirky beats and catchy tunes. As an indie band from the UK, the Kooks are able to keep their credibility as a truly innovative band through their original tracks and their singular style. The video above is my favorite song by them, Naive. Take a listen and I hope you enjoy... let me know what you think, and who are some are your bands of the moment? Read their bio below from Wikipedia. (Photos: www.thekooks.co.uk/ ; Video: YouTube.com)
The Kooks are a indie band based in the United Kingdom. The band was formed in Brighton, United Kingdom, and currently consists of four members. They have released two albums – their 2006 debut Inside In/Inside Out peaked at #2 on the UK Albums Chart, and their 2008 follow-up Konk hit #1.
The Kooks formed at the BIMM where they were all students. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Luke Pritchard, who was born in the Yorkshire seaside town of Saltburn, got bassist Max Rafferty involved in a college project, which formed the base of the band. After getting lead guitarist Hugh Harris and drummer Paul Garred involved, they took their name from the song "Kooks" on the 1971 David Bowie album Hunky Dory. When Virgin tried to trademark the name, they found that in the late/mid 1990s a Swedish band by the same name released an album in Sweden called "Too Much is Not Enough".
The Kooks released a debut EP and played gigs around Brighton, where they were based at the time, including the FreeButt festival. They were quickly signed to Virgin Records. Pritchard apparently wrote The Kooks' hit song "Naïve" when he was only 16 years old, and it was this song that propelled 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, they were interviewed on Channel 4's Popworld where presenter Simon Amstell made repeated references to Pritchard's ex-girlfriend, Katie Melua. The band have refused to appear on the show again, or partake in any activity involving Amstell since.
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. 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.
The band gave away non-album track "Pull Me In" as a prize in a competition they ran from their website and was limited to 5000 vinyl copies.
Their second studio album, Konk, was produced by Tony Hoffer and was released on 14 April 2008, it is still unknown who wrote the album. 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."Bassist Max Rafferty officially left the band on 31 January after long standing rumours and an on-off absence from the band. Dan Logan, bassist with Cat the Dog, was brought in as a temporary replacement, 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."
"Always Where I Need to Be", the first single off the album, was played on Zane Lowe's radio show on 5 February. Konk was named the Zane Lowe most anticipated album.
Konk went straight to number 1 in the UK Album chart, and also entered Irish charts at number 2.
The Kooks were featured on the cover of Beyond Race magazine for the publication's summer 2008, 2nd Anniversary issue.
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 performed in front of 40,000 people during the Isle Of MTV 2008 at the Floriana granaries, Malta, on 25 June 2008, and the entrance was free.
A Swedish band known as the Swedish Kooks has impersonated the band and come into conflict with them by threatening to gate crash their performances and take the stage instead of them. The Kooks discussed this during a British TV interview in September 2008.