[rating: 4]
Name hailing from the suburb of Crookes in Sheffield, indie pop connoisseurs The Crookes have been busy in the past eight years creating five albums, winning The Guardian Band of the day (2009) and setting up their own record label. This year they’re back with yet another album of toe tapping, head bobbing bangers that can quell any cravings for soul and synthy goodness you may have.
Lucky Ones is the first release on Anywhere Records, the band’s own record label that they announced via clash magazine. In the Press Release guitarist Tom Dakin explained that “We’ve always believed in taking a DIY approach to the music industry and the creation of Anywhere Records gives us a chance to put our stamp on something completely new; something we’ll have total control of,” This seemed like a good move for the band as the album is of great quality and production seems perhaps slightly better than previous albums, however this may just be down to band experience.
Quirky sun kissed dream pop in a flowery Smiths style, The Crookes take poetic, somewhat retrospective lyrics and produce tunes that make you want to do nothing else other than put on your dancing shoes and get yo groove on. ‘The Lucky ones’ and ‘I wanna waste my time on you’ are obvious stand out tracks and it is apparent that they’re meant to be. Echoing vocals with an almost The Cure drawl to them cuts through layers of rhythmic guitar and simple percussion that complement each other brilliantly, engraining the lyrics into your head until you honestly don’t know whether you will be able to stop humming them ever again.
The band draw you into the album with the breathy ‘Brand New Start’ featuring hushed vocals and a lazy drum beat, all crafting a dreamy and chilled out introduction to the album. An upbeat sunny festival vibe then takes over and continues until B.N.S. Pt II finishes the album on the same dreamy terms it began. Bit of keyboard and synth to jazz up the albums finale but one criticism that becomes apparent by the end of the record would be that the album is very much of the same. The songs do tend to blur into each other and have the same breezy, swinging and cheery feel to them. However having an overall theme to the album means you know what you’re getting and the album is a great overall piece that could drag any cynic onto the dancefloor within one track. Hearing the songs live at a festival would be perfect.
So with a UK tour and a European and America one on the way The Crookes have come a long way since their first single ‘A Collier’s Wife’ in 2009 and it’s exciting to see where they’ll go next. But in the meantime have a listen to Lucky Ones, but don’t blame me if you just can’t get it out of your head.
