The Sherlocks Live For The Moment
In essence, this is 'music by numbers' in much the same way that Catfish & The Bottlemen were before them
Dust off your Converse, the noughties are back in the shape of The Sherlocks.
Their debut album, Live For The Moment, is a doff of the cap to the likes of The Courteeners. It's energetic and dancy, yet entirely predictable. The album is littered with cliches about the pursuit of girls on dancefloors and taking on the world. That's fine though. I don't think The Sherlocks are gunning for the Noble Prize in Literature. They just want to get the mosh pit started like at Leeds 2009.
Kiaran Crook's vocals are drenched in distortion for the catchy 'Escapade', a powerful tale of the working class spending their wages on a not-so-classy night out in Barnsley. The title track is upbeat and bass-driven, with a pounding chorus backed by ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’. The guitar riffs jag and cut, filling each and every vocal gap to great effect. This is especially evident on 'Nobody Knows'. In fact, much of the album is at the same booming tempo and level, with the exceptions of the more sombre 'Motions' and 'Turn The Clock', which show the band taking their foot off the gas.
The Sherlocks are doing something right – touring the UK relentlessly, playing at Glastonbury and getting recognition from Steve Lamacq. In essence though, this is 'music by numbers' in much the same way that Catfish & The Bottlemen were before them, but unfortunately it's lacking the same cheeky likeability.
In an NME interview earlier this year, The Sherlocks declared that they could become “the pioneers of guitar music”. It's fair to say that they were wrong. Very wrong.
Will Hitchmough