Kooks blame bassist departure on drugs

The Kooks singer Luke Pritchard has revealed that their bass player left the band due to drug problems.

Max Rafferty departed the band in January and was temporarily replaced by Dan Logan from Brighton band Cat The Dog.

Speaking to Orange, frontman Pritchard said: "Max was in and out for a long time and we kind of made the decision that we wanted to carry on without him. Things got a bit much for him, I think.

"He was struggling [with] various issues [including] his anxieties and taking drugs probably a lot more than he should have been doing or wanted to be doing.

"Not to get some f***ing violin out, but it can be really difficult being in a band, especially when you're like that. Max is the greatest guy in the world but he just didn't really know how to stop."

The new Kooks album, titled Konk, is released on April 14.