CANCELED: British Rockers The Kooks Want to Make You Feel Less Alone, Nov 14

[Update, Nov 12, 11am] The Kooks have shared a video via their Twitter account in which lead singer Luke Pritchard explains how the band has been forced to cancel their entire China tour because of his ongoing spinal injury.

In the era of one-hit wonders, it can be hard to know which bands to invest in emotionally. What if you choose poorly and end up bereft when your new favorite band falls by the wayside? One group, however, that has yet to let us down are British rockers The Kooks, who have been crafting uplifting nuggets of guitar-driven glee since their founding way back in 2004.

Even with five albums under their belt, the Brighton-hailing band is as sprightly as ever, with a stable sound that is very much their own: the edginess of 1960s British rock with a sprinkling of funk and Britpop for good measure.

After a recent line-up change, the band now consists of the lead singer Luke Pritchard, guitarist Hugh Harris, and a drummer Alexis Nunez. Ahead of their Beijing gig at Tango 3F on Nov 14, we catch up with the Pritchard.

You've been described as "the Peter Pan of indie” and I think it is a great illustration of how your music is perceived. I was listening to Inside In/ Inside Out back in school and now hearing “Let’s Go Sunshine” – it sounds just like home.
I think it’s our audience that has kept the music fresh. Yes, we do have a certain sound which is hopefully distinctive even when we genre hop.

Making records is about creating time capsules so it’s really rewarding when those same songs are embraced by a new generation. It has definitely given me confidence in our way of going about it because these songs just keep on going.

Is there more to the feel-good music you make, than expressing how you feel? What do you think about a musician's responsibility to the world, is that important to you?
Not at all, I really try to put across how I feel but even a lyric that is about a bad or dark feeling can be paired with uplifting music so as to give an anthemic and uplifting feeling. Pop music is built on this!

A lot of the time making music and writing is about your own self-awareness and sort of therapy. At the end of the day the beauty of a song, for a listener, is that it makes you realize you aren’t the only one feeling these things. In that way, I feel the responsibility of a songwriter is to say the things that are hard to say. And to be honest, that’s the hardest thing to get to when you are staring at a blank piece of paper. Inevitably it is escapism and music is where you just want people to come and be broken out of their lives and just lose themselves.

What is it that you are looking to bring to the society with the music you make?
At the moment we are trying to stick up for guitar and band music. With an eye to the future, of course, but keeping the British traditions of band music. I wanna make anthems for the bullied kid. We’ve always felt like outsiders! That’s what bonded Hugh [Harris, lead guitarist] and me when we met and formed the band so we’ve carried that with us.

The song “Honey Bee” has your late dad’s voice on it. Was it your own idea and what did making this song bring or change in you?
"Honey Bee" was my dad's old song that my sister unearthed. I was early in the studio one morning and was messing around on it with the engineer, and we actually pieced together a new version that morning! The guys loved it so we put it on the album. It was so cool to be able to sing with my dad. 

Tell us about the newest album Let's Go Sunshine. Even though there is a familiar sound in your music, the latest album is very different from Listen. It’s very fun, relaxed, and forgiving. Can you talk a bit about how it came to be?
We always try and move in a different direction, it’s never good to stay in one place. In Listen, we had really moved away from our sound and how we used to make music. Heavily into producing first, writing second, which is the modern way.

With Let’s Go Sunshine I was happy to get back to instruments and classic songwriting. It was really an ode to the British band music of the '60s. Layered harmonies, organs, and yes, it was quite a tongue in cheek at points. I wanted to retrace some of the humor that I used to have on the first album.

“No Pressure” is a hard song to categorize. On one hand, the lyrics could signal an early-20s mindset with experiments, hedonism, and a lack of responsibility, but it actually comes out mature, like all the experiences you have lived through has come full circle and you are viewing it through a different outlook. What is the song about for you?
I think that’s a really interesting perspective! It kind of is, I really was writing it for that moment when you are all in but you don’t wanna fuck it up, you gotta play it cool.

That’s exactly what I was feeling. I had come off the back of some really negative relationships and later met someone, who is now my wife. I was in the haze when I wrote the song. I was trying to take things slow and the song was directly for her. I was just saying, "I’m in love with you and I want to find out everything about you... but, no pressure!"

Get your feelings on with The Kooks on Nov 14 at Tango 3F. Tickets here (RMB320-500). 

Never miss a gig: click here for a huge list of live shows in the city, updated daily.

Images: The Kooks, Read Dork