The K’s Are All the Rage in the U.K. Now They’re Ready to Take Over America

If there’s one thing the K’s know how to do, it’s throw a party — or, rather, put on a wild rock show. For the Earlestown, England, band, it’s essentially the same thing. Back in 2017, the K’s packed out a tiny bar in Manchester for their first-ever headlining set. People were so crammed into the small space, they climbed one another’s shoulders to head-bang along, feeding off the band’s infectious mix of speedy riffs and punk-inspired attitude. At one point, crowd-surfers pulled pipes down from the ceiling.

At the time, the K’s had yet to release their first single, “Sarajevo,” but were already building a vivacious audience of fans one pub party performance at a time. 

“Our favorite thing by a million miles will always be playing live shows and having that connection with an audience,” lead singer Jamie Boyle, 29, says over Zoom. He’s backstage before the K’s next show in Halifax at Piece Hall, with lead guitarist Ryan Breslin, 30, seated next to him.

“All the energy at our shows is really a testament to years of doing smaller stages in the pubs and the clubs. That’s definitely where we learned how to bounce off each other onstage,” Breslin says. 

Earlier this month, the K’s brought their supercharged live set to Rolling Stone’s “Future of Music U.K.” showcase at Hoxton Hall for the inaugural South by Southwest London festival. “It was a welcome change to go back to a nice, intimate venue,” Boyle says, referring to the 200-capacity room. Just a month before, the K’s played a sold-out show to 3,000 concertgoers at London’s Roundhouse. But they always prefer the smaller spaces. “You get a more personable feel with the crowd,” Boyle says. 

For Boyle and the rest of the band, rounded out by bassist Dexter Baker and drummer Nathan Peers, performing live is their favorite part of making music “That’s the way that we sort of honed our craft, playing live, and that feeds into the songs,” Breslin says. 

The band’s guitar-heavy music, inspired by U.K. New Wave group the Jam, is what keeps those live shows enthralling. From the moment they released the chanty “Sarajevo,” fans responded. The track racked up 100,000 streams within its first two weeks. “We were like, what on earth is going on? Because we’d never done anything before,” recalls Boyle. 

The band followed “Sarajevo” with a string of catchy singles, hoping to get the attention of record labels. But as they were talking to some in 2020, the pandemic hit and the offers dried up. “It was shit at the time but definitely did us a favor in the long run because we had that extra time to find our craft,” Boyle says. “And find out what we wanted to sound like.”

After refining their energetic rock and infusing it with acoustic pop elements, the K’s finally landed a record deal with indie U.K. label the Lab in 2023. Their first album, I Wonder If the World Knows, was released last April and made 2024 a momentous year for the band. The LP debuted at Number Three on the U.K. albums chart, going up against Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and the Libertine’s All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade. That same month, the band was named the “breakout act of the year” at the inaugural Northern Music Awards.

Now, just over a year after I Wonder If the World Knows, the K’s are gearing up for their second album, Pretty on the Internet, out June 27 via Lab Records. Produced by Jim Lowe, the project came together after Boyle brought 16 new songs to the group just months after the release of their debut LP. As the main songwriter of the group, Boyle is constantly jotting down notes whenever an idea strikes him. “It’s almost been a bit of a coping mechanism for me,” he says of writing in general, before adding with a laugh: “That’s why there’s such a high output, because I’m constantly having a meltdown every other day.”

It’s Boyle’s personal lyrics that distinguish Pretty on the Internet. “The records are getting more mature and not just being about getting drunk and getting battered on night out,” he says. With the album’s first singles, Boyle addressed raw topics, from his mental health struggles on “Breakdown in My Bedroom” to his thoughts on mortality with “Graveyards.”

Still, the K’s have yet to release their favorite tracks from the album. For Peers, that’s the evocative “Perfect Heart,” which almost didn’t make the record (he threatened to leave the band if it didn’t). It’s one of Breslin’s favorite’s too. “We all nearly had a tear in our eyes when we listened to it,” he says.

Meanwhile, Boyle digs “33 Heads” for its focus on vocal layering, a new facet of the band’s production style. “I’m a big Beach Boys fan, with all the harmonies,” he says. “It’s got one guitar and four harmony vocals all going at once, and then my lead vocal over the top.”

This year, the K’s hope to bring their new release stateside. Back in March, they made their U.S. debut at SXSW in Austin. “It was a bit surreal to be that far away from home and playing new songs that everyone knows over there… it was a ‘pinch me’ moment,” Breslin says. 

In between bar-hopping and checking out new bands, the K’s signed to United Talent Agency to help them with booking in America. “We’ve got a full tour plan, so it’s like we’ve just dipped our toe in at the minute and we’re really excited to properly get into it,” Boyle says. The city they can’t wait the most to play? “New York, definitely,” he says.

While they’re excited to plan their first U.S. tour, the K’s don’t like to look too far ahead. “We try not to think about set goals,” Boyle says. “It often leaves you a bit restricted.” After all, they’ve made it this far by embracing spontaneity. “It is so mental to sit here and think this is what we do for work,” he adds. “We get to just go around the world with our mates playing music.”

The K’s might be too busy soaking up their currently unbelievable reality to think about where they might be in five years, but they do reflect on every misstep that has brought them to this moment. When asked what he would tell his younger self, Boyle hesitates, lost in thought before he shakes his head. “I’d say make all the same mistakes and do exactly how we’ve done it,” he says with a smile. “We’ve definitely gone the scenic route.”