British, perhaps?
With a distinctly English flair, the Kooks eye the US market
By Jonathan Perry, Globe Correspondent | June 6, 2008

Luke Pritchard, singer and guitarist for the Kooks, makes no bones about wanting people, a lot of them, to hear his band's music. At the moment, he's in a Kansas City hotel room, a few dates into a summer tour, getting ready for another show. His British group's sophomore album, "Konk," released this spring on Astralwerks in the United States, has been received with nearly as much fan enthusiasm as the band's brand of exuberant pop and roll.

"It's been amazing, man," says Pritchard when we chat a few hours before showtime. "It's quite fresh for us, coming over here. It all feels new, and we're playing for people who know our music, which is cool. We didn't expect it to be like this."

As the leader of a band whose 2006 debut sold 2 million copies - an impressive total in an era of single-track digital downloads - it would be tempting to call Pritchard disingenuous or coy, except he sounds so sincere. Last month, "Konk" was nearly among the top 40 albums on the Billboard charts (peaking at No. 41), and its kinetic first single, "Always Where I Need To Be," is holding steady on the charts.

"To be honest, our whole way of thinking was to not think," Pritchard says. "We're just a band playing tunes. We wanted to make something that I don't think many bands are doing now, which is a fun, good-time record. It's not really an overconsidered record. We're not trying to make it anything that it isn't."

The Kooks, which headlines a sold-out show at the Paradise Rock Club on Monday, began in Brighton as teenagers. Although its members are all still barely into their 20s, the band has a clear idea of what it wants and where it wants to be.

"Of course, [our record label] wants to sell lots of records, and so do we," Pritchard says. "We came to the label with a very clear direction and said, 'Look, we write pop music.' We have kind of an old-school mentality, which is, don't beat around the bush. If you want to stay in your bedroom and play genius, then do that. But if you want to play in a band, you can't be snobby about it."

Although they sound nothing like Oasis (in fact, the '90s Britpop outfit Supergrass is a far closer comparison), the Kooks also play the kind of big, bold, bright pop music that wants to rule the world. It probably won't, because, like one of the band's biggest idols, the Kinks (more on them in a minute), the Kooks also happen to play very British-sounding rock that's cheeky and more self-effacing than self-serious. But the group's blustery vigor hasn't stopped or slowed them down yet.

"We want to have great singles and great songs that people are gonna sing back to us," Pritchard says matter-of-factly. An infectious singalong like "Shine On," which even features a few sha-la-la's, might just do the trick. If not, there's "Do You Wanna," a full-throttle, riff-happy rocker that demonstrates a few tricks the boys may have picked up when they opened for the Rolling Stones recently.

"Konk" takes its name after the legendary studio where the Kooks recorded both of their albums. The studio also happens to be owned by Kinks leader Ray Davies, which the band didn't know until Pritchard saw a familiar-looking guy lurking on the premises. "I've always loved the Kinks, and [Davies] is a big influence on me as a songwriter," says Pritchard. "One day, I saw him and said, 'I swear that's Ray Davies.' He hangs around there. We played pool with him a few times."

If you're in a band, shooting pool with a member of rock royalty is certainly one sign you've arrived. Another is when you have to remind yourself not to feel the pressure of trying to meet the expectations of everybody who bought your first album. Then there's the little matter of making a good second album.

"There's that element in your head - you think, 'I want to carry on, I don't want to disappear,' " Pritchard says. "And there are more people now who have an opinion about your record. At the same time, you've got to stop yourself from thinking about it, because the success of the first record wasn't because four people worried about it."

There have been some bumps along the way. After recording "Konk," the band, which also includes guitarist Hugh Harris and drummer Paul Garred, parted ways with their bass player, Max Rafferty, replacing him with former Cat the Dog bassist Dan Logan. The split was mutual but tense and shook everybody up. Finally, it seems, the Kooks have gotten back to the business of being a band.

"At the end of the day, when we get into rehearsal, we're just four friends playing music," Pritchard says. "That's how it should be. That's why the Beatles sounded so good."