The Kooks get to grips with new songs

By Kev Geoghegan
Radio 1 music reporter

Luke Pritchard said most fans picked up the lyrics online

The Kooks have admitted they are still getting to grips with songs from their new album.

The band spoke to Newsbeat as they played to a packed crowd at Liverpool's Barfly venue for Zane Lowe's show.

Before the gig, singer Luke Pritchard admitted the songs are as new to them as they are to their fans.

He said: "We toured the first record before we even recorded it, so definitely we're still finding our feet with the tunes.

"But it's going down really well, and the crowds are reacting brilliantly."

Boisterous crowd

Pritchard added that most fans seemed to have picked up the lyrics online.

He said: "They're all rockers and by the time we've played the chorus once, usually people are singing by the second chorus.

"Especially the way things are now with the internet, people know a lot of our songs before we've released them. They just get them off YouTube.

"If we play a new song tonight, then by the time we play the next show, then a few people in the audience will know that song."

The Brighton four-piece opened with a couple of tracks from their debut album before launching into their new single, Always Where I Need To Be, which saw the boisterous crowd eagerly singing back the choruses' catchy refrain.

The Kooks' new album, Konk, is out 14 April.