Mirroring Catfish and the Bottlemen’s emergence from Llandudno, young indie foursome the Sherlocks blazed out of deprived Bolton upon Dearne in South Yorkshire in 2017 and landed in the Top 10. Titling their debut Live for the Moment seemed to confirm that their spirited but elementary indie rock didn’t bode too well for longevity. However, their second album makes a surprising quantum leap. Producer James Skelly – the Coral’s melodic alchemist – has helmed a much more mature, effervescent rock sound closer to the Killers or Manchester’s James (who are tellingly name-checked).
The songs form a travelogue of the Sherlocks’ adventures, all getting lost in big cities, whirlwind romances and “singing at the top of your voice when you’re feeling down”. It’s not groundbreaking territory, but frontman Kiaran Crook is becoming a poetic lyricist, especially when addressing self-doubt, insecurity or home thoughts from abroad. In Dreams, he frets about those left behind on zero-hours contracts. NYC (Sing It Loud) takes “the last train out to somewhere, anywhere will do”. Every so often, he comes out with a beauty such as Time to Go’s “sunk to the bottom of the ocean, through the blue waves of your eyes”. No musical wheels are reinvented, but intriguing curveballs range from Give It All Up’s Take That harmonies to Magic Man’s segue into a colliery band. Foremost, the 11 highly anthemic songs all have arena-sized choruses, which deserve to be widely heard and loudly sung.
