Luke Pritchard has reflected on The Kooks sharing the same debut album anniversary as Arctic Monkeys.
Both bands released their debut albums on the same day, January 23 2006, with the Sheffield band’s ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not‘ becoming the fastest selling debut album in British music history, while The Kooks’ ‘Inside In/Inside Out’ went in at Number Nine and peaked at Number Two in the UK albums chart.
At the time, The Kooks praised the Sheffield band for helping make their debut become one of the most successful albums of that year, and Pritchard recently sat down with Radio X and insisted there was no competition because the bands were very different.
“I didn’t really think too much about it because The Kooks weren’t really meant to be as big as we were,” he said. “Like, we had a very small record deal. Everyone was talking about the Arctic Monkeys, like, no one really was talking about us, so we didn’t really feel particularly in competition.”
Instead, Pritchard recalled a sort of mutual appreciation between the two bands, adding: “They’d come to our gigs and we’d go to their gigs. We kind of knew them.”
“It’s funny now with the lens, you see it. It’s quite a similar scene, but I felt like we were so different. Like, at the time we were in such a different kind of space,” he continued. “Like, to me, it was almost like they were doing, like, rap music. It was like rock and roll rap, you know, and it was, like, very tough and, like, almost like industrial. Like, the record was really mixed, so industrial, that first one… and we were more warm.”
Despite the their stylistic differences, Pritchard said he was “proud” to share the milestone and be part of that period in British music history.
“Now I look back at it and I feel really proud that we were, like, at the same time as them. It was a really great time for music. And I loved that record then. I love that record now. And it got loads of kids into guitar music at that time and still now.
“So I felt like a good kind of… like a brotherhood with them, you know. It’s amazing to be part of that pantheon.”
Last year also saw Pritchard reflect on the band’s shared history – namely a row he’d famously had with frontman Alex Turner. Back in 2008, Pritchard spoke about a feud he once had with the singer which resulted in him kicking Turner in the face.
He said at the time: “We have had a weird relationship with the Arctics since we first met. I had to kick Alex in the face after he tried to pull the leads out of my guitar pedals while we were on stage.
“I tried to patch things up with Alex but he just turned his back and walked away. I suppose they are quite arrogant,” prompting Monkeys fans to hit out at the comments as a “desperate attempt to get some publicity”.
However, a 2025 interview with the Daily Mail, Pritchard played down their feud, saying: “On a personal level, there’s never been a rivalry. But I respect them, and I think they respect us. We come across them quite a bit, and it’s always fine.”
He added: “There was the ‘kick in the head’ – we were meant to tour with them around our first album, and it didn’t happen. They came down to our gig, and there was a bit of an incident. But again, it was all fun. It was crazy times, man.”
Pritchard also previously praised Arctic Monkeys’ “development” over the years in a separate interview. “It’s amazing their development and how they’ve managed to not look back. I think it’s a well trodden path and I think that people have to give a bit of time and space to artists.
Pritchard went on to explain how he no longer really feels connected to some of the lyrics and emotion from The Kooks’ earlier work. “The thing with Arctic Monkeys where they are very similar to us as well, is that we’re the same age. Again, we were the next gen from the indie bands at the time, so we were very young.”
Earlier this month, the Monkeys released a brand new song called ‘Opening Night’. This was recorded as a one-off release, and it is the first taste of a new all-star charity album ‘Help(2)’, made in conjunction with War Child.
NME gave ‘Opening Night’ a four-star review, noting that the song’s release had been “enveloped in hearsay – that it’s their final release, that it’s an outtake from ‘AM’ sessions”.
“If you’re looking for answers as to what the future holds, you’re not going to get them here,” it read. “But if this is the last piece of music we’re going to get from Arctic Monkeys, it’s a solid way to bow out – interesting, enjoyable and for a mighty good cause. More tunes aside, it’s all we could ask for.”
