The Crookes - Hold Fast

The Sheffield quartet returned in 2012 with a new line-up and a new album. Sadly both have been criminally underrated. They set off on tour supporting their Sheffield mentor Richard Hawley last week and we pray this is the beginning of a bigger following and increased successful record sales. They definitely garnered a fantastic response from the London crowd, so we thought it only right to revisit their 2012 album ‘Hold Fast’ for a review.

Their previous album, (former TT album of the year in 2011) ‘Chasing After Ghosts’ was a brilliantly expressive venture but paid the price commercially as lacked those big guitar hooks which grab the masses. However, the singles from ‘Hold Fast’ come with choruses and guitar licks that all great singles have. ‘Afterglow’ is a fabulous indie number which flows with the same unrestrained beauty as Stone Roses’ ‘She Bangs The Drums’ whilst ‘Stars’ is a powerful indie-number which would have filled many Inbetweener’s scene changes.

‘Maybe In The Dark’ acts as a bridge between the previous album and this one perfectly. It encapsulates Waits' ability to deliver vocals with eloquence worthy of Morrissey whilst the music fires along as if Johnny Marr became Richard Hawley’s lead guitarist.

‘American Girls’ demonstrates a real maturity in the band’s song writing. It begins with a slow morose vocal, reminiscent of the intro to Doves’ ‘Cedar Room’, before launching into a typically Crookes sounding 50s rock n roll number. The muffled nature of the guitars and distant sounding vocals witnesses the Sheffield boys taking chances with production which hopefully will initiate long overdue critical acclaim in the music rags.

There are so many cracking indie/pop/rockabilly/northern soul tunes on ‘Hold Fast’ its frustrating not to see them A-Listed on XFM and creeping onto Radio 1. George Waite’s vocals are so beautiful and radio friendly at times it really does beggar belief.