The Kooks Aren't "Gonna Do A Stone Roses"

Having topped British pop charts for much of last year with songs like the ubiquitous single "Naive" from their Inside In/Inside Out debut, The Kooks are moderating their cockiness with some precocious wisdom. Barely old enough to drink in the U.S., the band have been touring tirelessly to promote their record abroad.

"It's just so fucking weird how so many British bands go, 'Yeah, we're gonna come over and conquer America,'" declares singer Luke Pritchard. "Whatever, man, one of the most amazing things about being a musician is not having to worry about shit like that. Making music — it's not about conquering a fucking place."

Drummer Paul Garred echoes the sentiment.

"We're about what we do and nothing else, really. I really think it's disrespectful the way people lump bands and musicians."

A lot of lumping has occurred between The Kooks and their chart-topping predecessors Razorlight, whose verbally belligerent singer Johnny Borrell once stated in an NME interview that The Kooks are "rolling over, sticking their arse in the air and begging [BBC] Radio 1 to fuck them." He also drew an unflattering parallel with Avril Lavigne.

Instead of firing back with some uniquely British insults, though, The Kooks laughed it off. They refuse to get embroiled in petty music tabloid drama.

"The thing is, NME — they're trying to sell magazines or they go bust, so the way they have to keep on going, they have to prefabricate something, and it makes us look like dickheads, or someone else look like dickheads, but it's absolute bollocks," says Pritchard.

The Kooks aren't about to succumb to artificial ego stroking, according to Pritchard.

"That's the funny thing about [fame], it doesn't exist outside the people. It doesn't exist in you unless you're a dickhead. Something glamorous like that doesn't exist. It's bollocks. It's all created by people who want you to be like that."

As soon as The Kooks get off the road, they'll begin putting together their sophomore record, once they decide which of the 45 already-written songs they want to keep.

"New album's being recorded in August and it'll take as long as it takes -- but don't worry, we're not gonna do a Stone Roses," assures Pritchard. "I don't think our philosophy will change.

"We'll still try and make great songs in that we try to be as unpretentious as we possibly can, and we try to think that music's about bringing people together, and that it's about having 10,000 people sing a tune together. And that will never change."