The Sherlocks, Under Your Sky - album review
The Sherlocks are growing up a bit on their sophomore record.
While the debut - 2017's Live For The Moment - was all about the hedonism of youth and alcohol, this one sees them transported forward a couple of years into young adulthood.
It's a different type of songwriting from frontman Kiaran Crook and the Sheffield four-piece.
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All the elements are still there from the indie-rock sound that saw them spotted for support slots to Liam Gallagher last time around, but they've tweaked it a bit. Working with James Skelly of The Coral at his Parr Street Studios in Liverpool the maturity shines through in the lyrics and more serious guitar work.
It's a clever move. They will bring in some more seasoned listeners who missed the hubbub first time around, while still staying loyal to those fans that put them up on a pedestal with the debut.
NYC (Sing It Loud) is a good example. It's not quite straight radio-friendly, but that 'whoah' chorus does pay homage to the qualities that land bands a lot of airplay. There is still enough 'alt' in there to keep them as indie club darlings over sticky floors and spilt, flat, warm beer though.
They go 'choral' in Give It All Up. Those harmonised vocals at times are a sharp reminder of the change in their attitude and it's a fairly competent poppy number that glides effortlessly over the deep bass from Andy Davidson.
His brother Josh dances enticingly across the material in tandem guitar-flicks with Kieran - whose sibling Brandon on drums completes the sweet nature of a band consisting of two sets of brothers - and the chiming nature of their waltz shines throughout.
Take the track One Day for example. While tapping into the glitzy rock vibes of classic Feeder they still find time to break it down mid-song to plant a predominantly Sherlocks vocal harmonisation.
There's an all-out rock feel to Magic Man to really liven things up too. The guitars here are masterful and will have more than a few fingers in the crowd reaching for the air variety to imitate the art in front of them.
It's a solid effort, and good to have them back.
Rating: 7/10
The Sherlocks will be performing an in-store acoustic set and signing the new album at Birmingham's HMV in The Bullring on Thursday, before returning for a full show at the Second City's O2 Institute 2 on November 3
