The Sherlocks dissect People Like Me & You.

L-R: Alex Procter, Kiaran Crook, Brandon Crook and Trent Jackson. Image: Michael Crook.

This summer will bring the release of the fourth album from South Yorkshire’s The Sherlocks – founder members and brothers Kiaran Crook (vocals and guitar) and Brandon Crook (drums), with Alex Procter on guitar and Trent Jackson on bass. People Like Me & You sees the band building on the Top 10 success of its predecessor, World I Understand, and will be followed by their biggest UK headline tour so far.

World I Understand was recorded immediately after Trent and Alex joined the band, following the departure of Josh and Andy Davidson. “We straightaway had a connection,” Kiaran recalls. “It all just fell into place. We had one mess around on guitar with me, Brandon and Alex, and then a few days later me, Brandon and Trent, and then we had one band practice. Then we went down to Rockfield and did the third album.” Two years later, the band dynamic is solid: “You’ve got Alex who lifts everybody’s spirits and keeps everybody laughing their heads off, and then Trent’s super-chilled and calm to be around. It’s got a good vibe.”

Musically, their tastes are also attuned, although Trent is more into old-school rock and heavier bands like Bring Me the Horizon while Alex also enjoys electronic music. “It’s a good balance between the band,” says Brandon, who’s a big admirer of the Arctic Monkeys’ Matt Helders – “‘Brianstorm’ on drums is just another level” – while Kiaran names Queens of the Stone Age’s “Go with the Flow” as an inspirational guitar track. He and Brandon inevitably share childhood influences – “My dad’s always listened to anything, whatever is relevant at the time,” Kiaran says. Brandon recalls holiday trips to Spain in a motorhome with their dad’s current favourite on repeat: Tracy Chapman, Blink 182, The Proclaimers and, one memorable summer, James Blunt’s Back to Bedlam. “Fair enough, it’s a top album, but after you’ve heard it about 76 times you’re thinking, ‘Are you gonna stick another CD in or what?!’”

“There was me rocking up giving him a demo and wanting to use loads of the sounds from the demo. We don’t really care if it’s a sound off GarageBand or if it’s off a cheap little crappy keyboard – it’s always about if it sounds good.”

— Kieran

The band fitted in recording People Like Me & You around tour and festival dates, turning up for a few days at a time with little more than the germ of a song, as Kiaran explains. “We didn’t really go in with a big plan this time around – that’s probably why we’re happy with it. Pretty much every single song was half-written barring one, which I think was an old one. Usually I’d have the melody, which is the most important thing for me, and then just fill it in, in the studio.” “We were definitely the least prepared we’ve ever been going into an album,” Brandon agrees, “but we believe we’ve come out with the best album we’ve ever made.”

Another innovation was working with Al Groves, at the Motor Museum studio in Liverpool. As experienced recording artists with clear ideas about how they wanted the tracks to sound, there were occasional frustrations when Groves wanted them to try a different approach, Brandon reports – as with the drums on “Sirens”, which went through multiple recordings before ending up close to the band’s original version. “It felt at times like we were trying to change it for the sake of changing it. Then again, on others we changed it and it turned out better.” “We were doing stuff like that because he cared and wanted to get the best out of us,” Kiaran points out. “But it’s probably hard sometimes when you’ve got a band like ours: we’d done a lot of legwork ourselves, there was me rocking up giving him a demo and wanting to use loads of the sounds from the demo. We don’t really care if it’s a sound off GarageBand or if it’s off a cheap little crappy keyboard – it’s always about if it sounds good.”

Some of the album has already made its live debut, with the three singles released so far – the title track, “Sirens” and “Don’t Let It Out” – being played in stripped-back versions. Brandon is looking forward to the audience reaction to “Face the Music”, which will be released next month as a bonus CD for everyone who preorders the album. “That one will be absolutely huge when we’re in the bigger venues. Even in the soundcheck, it’s good fun when you play new songs and you’re thinking, ‘Wow, this is sounding huge already, wait until you get everyone inside singing it!’” For Kiaran, it also has a more personal resonance. “At the beginning of the song, it’s got a recording that I took out of the bedroom window, like a scrapman coming round. Straightaway it just takes you back to Bolton upon Dearne, where we’re from. So that’s pretty cool, never done owt like that before.”

The album closes with another track that has strong links to their roots: “Watson”. Centred around a spoken-word monologue delivered by close family friend John Watson, it is the only track that won’t lend itself naturally to live performance, although Brandon thinks it might make a good introduction to gigs. They hope it will stand as a tribute to Watson’s enduring support since the Crook brothers first started playing in pubs, as well as a record of where they are now. “The bits that Kiaran’s thrown in, there’s little highlights of stuff that we’ve experienced over the last couple of years. You can hear that coming in and out of the track. It’s something very different but also a special tune for us.”

Putting these elements from their personal lives into the music strengthens their relationship with the so-called Sherlocks Army. “What works for us is embracing the audience and showing them what’s behind the curtain,” Kiaran observes. They do exactly that on the gatefold artwork for the yellow vinyl version of People Like Me & You, which features previously unseen backstage and fan photos of the band. While they have always given a lot of thought to the physical product as well as the music, it’s been made easier this time around by putting the album out on their own label. “We’re back in control of everything we want to do, and it seems to just work a lot better because everything you see that comes out, in the imagery or the videos or the artwork, it’s all from our little team. There’s literally only four in the band, and my dad, and that’s the core thing. We’re running it all ourselves these days, but it means more to us doing that.” By cutting out the intermediaries, The Sherlocks can concentrate on doing what they do best: making music that connects with their fans. As Brandon says, “we’re a DIY band, we need you all behind us so we can keep doing it. It’s like a deal then: you support us and we’ll keep making records.”

People Like Me & You is out August 11th.

Author: Rachel Goodyear