The K's fuse brisk, wry social observations in the vein of Alex Turner with a forceful indie rock approach carrying punk undertones. This Newton-le-Willows quartet draws its drive and outlook from the Libertines, the Jam, and the Clash. The group came together in 2017 in Earlestown, a settlement lying midway between Manchester and Liverpool. Its original members were Jamie Boyle handling guitar and lead vocals, Ryan Breslin on guitar, Dexter Baker on bass, and Christopher Holleran on drums. Each musician had previously played in other groups that dissolved once some participants pursued higher education. Boyle and Breslin decided to start the band after crossing paths in the small hours at a shared acquaintance's kitchen following separate evenings out. They first performed under the name the Kaleidoscopes, taken from a nearby record store, before adopting the K's. Early shows took place around Warrington, and the band issued its own "Sarajevo" single in July 2017. The track's energetic yet tuneful character eventually accumulated six million streams across seven years, reflecting the quartet's gradual yet steady rise.
In 2018 the K's opened for Slydigs at Warrington Parr Hall, site of the Stone Roses' unannounced 2012 return performance, and appeared at Kendal Calling plus an early Manchester-centered edition of the Neighbourhood Festival. By year's end they had issued two further tracks, "Glass Towns" and "Got a Feeling," through the Beautiful Noise imprint, and Jordan Holden had taken over drums from Holleran. Their October 2019 single "Aurora," released via Alan McGee's Creation23, received promotion through a Bluetones support date in Nottingham the next month. The 2020 digital releases "TV" and the reflective, piano-driven "Valley One" were gathered onto a self-issued limited 7" that September.
Following the COVID-19 lockdowns, some planned concerts were disrupted, yet the band still performed at Liverpool Sound City in late 2021 alongside Red Rum Club, the Lathums, and Jamie Webster. The following year brought a sold-out U.K. headline tour, festival slots at Reading, Leeds, and the Isle of Wight, and a support billing for Liam Gallagher in Greece. The self-released 7" "Hometown" arrived in April, while December's "Picture" coincided with Holden's exit and Nathan Peers' arrival on drums.
A licensing arrangement with Manchester's Lab Records gave the K's added momentum at the start of 2023. January's "Hoping Maybe" became their first single under the new deal, and the entire catalog gained from the arrangement. "Chancer," released in March, was promoted via a Birmingham show with Stiff Little Fingers and an opening slot for Kasabian at the Royal Albert Hall. June's "Landmines" preceded a Liverpool support date for Cast. Much of the remainder of 2023 was spent backing the Reytons, though November brought "Heart on My Sleeve" and December saw the release of Live at Lafayette, capturing a London headline performance from March of that year. The characteristically urgent "No Place Like Home" of January 2024 earned substantial national airplay on BBC Radio 1 and was succeeded by the driving "Black and Blue" ahead of the band's first studio album, I Wonder if the World Knows?, which surfaced in March.
