THE KOOKS

They're not exactly the epitome of street cred. Mop-haired front man Luke Pritchard even dated jazz-lite Radio 2 queen Katie Melua for a while. But since gatecrashing the charts with their debut album, Inside In/Inside Out, the indie-lite four-piece have proved the missing link between the feelgood Britpop of Supergrass and The Kinks. After dropping out of the Brit School for Performing Arts (where he met Melua), Pritchard enrolled at Brighton's Institute of Modern Music where he met bandmates Hugh Harris (guitars), Max Rafferty (bass) and Paul Garred (drums). The foursome spent the next two years honing their songwriting skills using the college's facilities, resulting in their gold selling debut album. Who said students loaf about all day eating Pot Noodles and watching Neighbours?