The Kooks talk similarities with Arctic Monkeys and praise their “development”

The Kooks have spoken about their similarities with the Arctic Monkeys and have praised the band’s “development”.

The band’s frontman, Luke Pritchard, spoke to Radio X’s Dan O’Connell about their homecoming show at On The Beach in Brighton next year as well as reflecting on the fact that their debut LP ‘Inside In / Inside Out’ was released on the same day as Arctic Monkeys debut ‘Whatever People Say I am, That Is What I Am Not’.

After being asked if it was difficult to have everything compared to the success of their debut, Pritchard said: “Yeah. I’ve ruminated on that a lot. I mean, it was always a bit of an albatross, because when the first thing you do is so commercially successful, what it does is bring craziness and of course being so young as well […], but I think the key to that is making sure you take risks and you do try different things and we’ve done that. We’ve had some amazing creative fazes.”

He then brought up Alex Turner and Co. adding: “They’re a great example. It’s amazing their development and how they’ve managed to not look back. I think it’s a well trodden path and I think that people have to give a bit of time and space to artists.”

Pritchard went on to explain how he no longer really feels connected to some of the lyrics and emotion from The Kooks’ earlier work. “The thing with Arctic Monkeys where they are very similar to us as well, is that we’re the same age. Again, we were the next gen from the indie bands at the time, so we were very young,” he said.

The singer continued: “When we look back to our songs from those days, you’re talking about when you were a teenager. You’re talking about emotions you’re having when you’re a kid and that’s quite strange as well, because it’s like a diary that everyone has of yours.”

The Kooks are set to play a huge summer 2024 show at Brighton Beach with Sea Girls, Maximo Park and Kate Nash.

The bands will be performing as part of the On The Beach series on July 21 along with special guests Nieve Ella, Brooke Combe and Fred Roberts.

They will also be heading out to the US for a 2024 North American tour with The Vaccines in celebration of the belated 15th anniversary of their debut album.