KCRW Exclusive: Stream The Kooks How’d You Like That

The Kooks by Deirdre O'Callaghan

KCRW is a longtime supporter of UK pop band The Kooks and is thrilled to offer an exclusive song off their forthcoming album, the irresistible “How’d You Like That”.

Singer Luke Pritchard tells us how this particular tune, one of the band’s favorites, came about:

“(It started as) a piano thing Hugh (Harris, lead guitarist) had — we used to have this sort of rap to it, like kind of a comedy tune, and I ended up writing these lyrics about women of heaven…kind of about dying, about being lifted up to heaven. Then someone going, ‘How’d you like that?’ about life.”

“It’s got that “Young Americans”, Bowie thing for the beat.”

Stream “How’d You Like That”

More from KCRW DJ Mario Cotto:

Despite having had remarkable success with their debut and follow-up records, Brighton band The Kooks have been met with rather divisive US press. A number of years ago a Rolling Stone reviewer even went as far as to compare them to 90’s hitmakers the Spin Doctors. OOF. (Between you and me, as gnarly as that sounds, I personally think “Two Princes” is an insanely catchy song. Perhaps not the song you want to get trapped in a loop in your brain, but it does its pop-job to brilliantly infectious effect.)

I digress…The Kooks’ irrepressible charm lies in the fact that they have no pretension about themselves as a “pop band” and have gone as far as to proclaim themselves “musical whores” whose first rehearsed song was a cover of The Stroke’s “Reptilia.” These guys have zero compunction about being new and being pop and that is, quite honestly, perhaps why they’ve had such a great run in the UK.

After a number of years of radio-silence, they’re set to release their new album, “Junk of the Heart” on September 14. The holed up in the studio with producer Tony Hoffer (Phoenix, Beck, Jack Penate, & Depeche Mode) and have crafted a sugary sweet pop record whose second track, “How’d You Like That” starts and totally catches with a hook as good as any rock song in recent memory.

— Mario Cotto

The Kooks Tour Dates

11/15 Philadelphia PA Trocadero

11/16 New York NY Webster Hall

11/17 New York NY Webster Hall

11/19 Boston MA House Of Blues

11/20 Washington DC 9.30 Club

11/22 Montreal QC Club Soda

11/23 Toronto ON Sound Academy

11/25 Columbus OH Newport Music Hall

11/26 Chicago IL Vic Theatre

11/27 Minneapolis MN First Avenue

11/29 Denver CO Ogden Theatre

11/30 Salt Lake City UT Club Sound

12/02 Seattle WA The Showbox @ The Market

12/04 Vancouver BC Commodore Ballroom

12/07 Los Angeles CA The Music Box

12/08 Los Angeles CA The Music Box

12/13 San Francisco CA The Fillmore