The Kooks Are Back With New Album – Bassist’s Departure Was Due To Drugs

The Kooks are back, with a new single called Always Where I Need To Be, which I reviewed on Killed By The Video Star today, and a new album called Konk out in the UK on the 14th of April.

It nearly didn’t happen however, as the band were reportedly close to splitting back in January when bassist Max Rafferty left the band.

At the time, singer Luke Pritchard said that everything was too fresh for them to go in to details, but now with new album just a few days away from release (is there a connection there?) he has opened his heart to discuss the issues.

He told Orange:

“Max was in and out for a long time and we kind of made the decision that we wanted to carry on without him. Things got a bit much for him, I think.”

“He was struggling [with] various issues [including] his anxieties and taking drugs probably a lot more than he should have been doing or wanted to be doing.”

“Not to get some fucking violin out, but it can be really difficult being in a band, especially when you’re like that. Max is the greatest guy in the world but he just didn’t really know how to stop.”

So in the end, it seems it came down to doing drugs, and quite a lot of them by the sounds of it.

I’m just glad they didn’t split over this as they are one of the best new bands to have emerged from the UK over the past few years.

If the new single is anything to go by, The Kooks are getting better with every release, and their brand of Indie Pop tunes could well make them big in America.

[Photo Source: Whistling in the Dark at Flickr]