Self-propelled indie stalwarts The Sherlocks are back with album number five, ‘Everything Must Make Sense!’
After three back-to-back top ten records, the band have been very public in their desire to reach that, so far elusive, top spot. For a band with a fanbase the size of The Sherlocks, that number one spot should by now be a cert, irrespective of whether the records actually any good, which, in this case, is probably just as well.
Opening track ‘Everything Must Make Sense’ kicks off with a riff Kelly Jones will probably want back at some point and quickly sets low expectations.
The records other supporting singles ‘Bones’, ‘Death Of Me’ and ‘Man On The Loose’ front-load the album. Each one takes its own little journey through the indie landscape, or should that be indie landfill? There are heavy shades of High Flying Birds and Kasabian amongst others….
The highlight is the closing track ‘Here Comes The Rain’. It’s a glorious track, reminiscent of The Cult at their peak. I really hope Alex Proctor recorded his guitar parts on a big white Gretsch.
‘How Are You Feeling’ had me expecting a song about red balloons as soon as I heard the main synth part, but thankfully, it’s a track that shows just how far Kiaran Crooks’ writing has developed. Songs of thirty-something angst, mental health and relationship issues abound… dysfunctional, dissolving relationships and the mess they make. ‘Here we are, ”Is this it?’, ‘Not sure I’m where I thought I would be, and I’m not sure if I like it’ are recurring themes.
Songs of insecurity and crisis delivered with defiant swagger, but perhaps that’s what makes this record so disappointing. The writing on this record is good, in fact, it is very good. Kiaran Crooks’ vocals are outstanding and at times simply stunning. The musicality of the band is faultless, but it just all sounds so incoherent. It’s all over the place, each track dragging the listener off in multiple directions, it’s jumbled, almost scruffy perhaps…sadly, it just doesn’t work
Once upon a time, a record like this would have seen The Sherlocks sent back to Rockfield Studios by their record label to do it again. I’ve no doubt that would have been the masterpiece the band deserved, C’est La Vie!
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