UK indie rock quartet formed in 2004 by Luke Pritchard (vocals/guitar), Hugh Harris (guitar/vocals), Max Rafferty (bass/vocals), and Paul Garred (drums). The four founding members of the Kooks met at the Brighton Institute for Modern Music, the rock school set up by Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden. Taking their name from a David Bowie song on his 1971 album Hunky Dory, and musical inspiration from classic rock and punk bands including the Clash, the Jam, the Kinks and the Rolling Stones, the Kooks quickly established a following on the local rock scene. A batch of their original demo material was then released on the Internet, attracting an instant and impressive response from keen downloaders. A recording contract with Virgin Records followed a crowd-pleasing four-song slot at the Brighton Free Butt. The quartet’s first two singles, ‘Eddie’s Gun’ and ‘Sofa Song’, charted in the lower reaches of the UK singles chart in late 2005. They made their commercial breakthrough at the start of the following year with the singles ‘You Don’t Love Me’ (number 12) and ‘Naïve’ (number 5). The latter, a melodic slice of post-punk inspired modern scuzz-pop, hung around the UK Top 10 for over a month, helping promote sales of Inside In/Inside Out.
