The Kooks — Never/Know

Australia Broadcast Center

11-05-2025

Has it really been almost 20 years since The Kooks' iconic song 'Naïve'? Their biggest hit may be long in the rearview mirror, but the band have done well for themselves since their 2000s indie rock heyday, releasing six albums in that time.
Their latest, Never/Know , consciously nods to 2006 debut Inside/Out (if the forward slash in the title didn't tip you off). But rather than merely repeating past glories, chief Kook Luke Pritchard was looking to reconnect with what made the group special in the first place.
"I'm just really fascinated by debutism," the frontman told Zan Rowe for Take 5. "Why are so many debut albums so instantly nostalgic or amazing? They're obviously a bit rough around the edges but there's a certain 'naivety' — excuse the pun."
Never/Know manages to successfully function as a welcome reminder of the group's strengths — summery, easy-to-enjoy guitar pop — while capitalising on the attention of a younger generation of fans that have flocked to the band via TikTok and on tour.
Lead single and opening title track 'Never Know' eases us in with a whistled intro, laidback guitars, warm organ and the kind of affable melody that's always been a Kooks staple. Inspired by the thrill of first meeting his wife, Pritchard sings about blowing money ' like we're movie stars,' and cruising top-down through the south of France - all backed by suitably balmy music.
'Sunny Baby' maintains that energy, its laidback yet snappy guitars managing to sell lyrical cliches like ' Baby when you kiss me I feel ten feet tall' as charming sentiments. Elsewhere, the pleasingly direct 'If They Could Only Know' could have come straight from The Kooks' earliest albums.
Another frontloaded highlight is 'All Over The World,' which establishes an understated swagger with bouncing bass, piano flourishes and cooing backing vocals. Squint (really hard) and it's almost got the debonair feel of recent Arctic Monkeys albums. Not least with the kind of lyrical mouthful Alex Turner is so fond of:
'Cocaine, marzipan, oh how times have changed
I'm just a paperclip hanging out underneath your lip
Shake your hips for me, baby, to the bar you're gonna save me.'
It's probably a coincidence because the bigger influence on the track is The Police. It's right there in the guitar tone and reggae-leaning drums, which reappear on 'Let You Go' and 'Tough At The Top', which makes the inspiration explicit with its Sting-ready topline.
Another touchstone is The Beatles. 'Echo Chamber' has a subtle Lennon-esque quality, albeit with a beachy atmosphere, courtesy of vibraphone and congas, while 'Arrow Through Me 'is a faithful cover of Paul McCartney and Wings, whose '70s smoothness sounds good on The Kooks.
There's a lightness of touch throughout Never/Know , which was self-produced by Pritchard (save one track); it's lean enough to allow you to really hear the playing more so than the band's bigger-sounding recent albums.
You could imagine a younger or less experienced act wanting to inflate the arrangements and sticky melodies to extreme size and volume. But the relaxed confidence to these pared-back tracks allows you to appreciate the details, particularly guitarist Hugh Harris' many tasteful contributions.
One of his smooth guitar solos closes 'Talk About It', which ends the album on a relaxed note, like sauntering out the door rather than a dramatic farewell.
In approaching what The Kooks should be in 2025, Pritchard remarked: "The whole thing was to just forget that the past had happened. What kind of music do we want to make, and how do we make it feel natural?"