Review: Everything Must Make Sense as The Sherlocks wow with electrifying Yorkshire homecoming
INDIE chart stars The Sherlocks have wowed fans with an electrifying Yorkshire homecoming performance heraldimg the release of their fifth album later this month.
And songs from their new record, Everything Must Make Sense!, out on Friday May 16, were front and centre in a formidable 90 minute line-up of tunes, writes Richard Derbyshire.
Kiaran Crook, his brother and drummer Brandon, lead guitarist Alex Procter and bassist Trent Jackson tore through a blistering set in their first headline show in Leeds since 2022.
And the lead singer explained that while the band were “aiming for the album chart top spot”, as an independent act not on a major record label, they would “need the help of every fan” during the next fortnight.
“We are underdogs, we can’t do it without you,” said Bolton on Dearne born Kiaran.
In-between crowd chants of “Yorkshire, Yorkshire”, the new songs come thick and fast, including one of the first live plays of album track How Are You Feeling?
Single Man on the Loose, with its soaring, infectious chorus and intricate verses, is a monster anthem when performed live, and a worthy successor to previous big singles like Falling.
Then there is Bones, a driving, apocalyptic number with shades of when Noel Gallagher teamed up with The Chemical Brothers. It is recognisable as a Sherlocks’ tune, but is on a different planet to any thing else they have done before.
The synth-driven melodies of Death Of Me already make this song a favourite with those down the front, while title track Everything Must Make Sense! has a lively Stereophonics inspired start and Johnny Marr themed guitars and melodies.
2023’s big hitter Sirens is still a gritty, epic rock number, and its popularity tonight, along with Don’t Let It Out, showed why the band had a top 4 hit with their 2023 album People like Me and You.
But even with competition from newer tunes, there was still time for the ominously urgent Falling, City Lights, and four of the songs that helped start it all: Live for The Moment, Was It Really Worth It? Will You Be There? and Escapade.
And just as at early Leeds shows at The Cockpit in 2014 and Wardrobe in 2016, the band’s eternal anthem Chasing Shadows wraps up the evening.
Now with five albums to choose from, the setlist missed some songs whose absence would have been unthinkable even a couple of years ago.
But that was then, and this is now, and the progression of writing and stagecraft from album to album shows that there is no standing still for this band. Here is music made for the biggest stages.
The Sherlocks brought two southern bands north to Leeds, with Milton Keynes trio Cusp, fresh from joining the headliners on tour in Europe, and Southampton’s The Manatees, who return to Leeds at Lending Room in October, both showing why they are two of the most exciting up and coming bands around.
The Sherlocks will return to Leeds when they support headliners Shed Seven alongside Lightning Seeds at Sounds of the City at Millennium Square on Friday July 11, two weeks before their main stage appearance at Tramlines in Hillsborough Park, Sheffield on Sunday July 27.
The Sherlocks’ headline UK tour continues in May -buy tickets at www.thesherlocksmusic.co.uk.
Keele University (9 May)
Birmingham O2 Institute (10 May)
Bristol, SWX (16 May)
Nottingham, Rock City (17 May)
London, Electric Ballroom (23 May)
Southampton, Engine Rooms (24 May)
Buckley, Tivoli (25 May)
Glasgow, SWG3 (30 May)
Albert Hall, Manchester (31 May)
In-store appearances at:
Kingston-upon-Thames, Banquet Records (15 May, evening)
Bristol, Rough Trade (16 May, daytime)
Nottingham, Rough Trade (17 May, daytime)
Huddersfield, Vinyl Tap (Northern Quarter) (18 May, daytime)
Preston, Action Records (Blitz) (18 May, evening)
Leeds, The Vinyl Whistle (19 May, daytime)
Sheffield, Beartree (at The Foundry) (19 May, evening)
Manchester, HMV (20 May, daytime)
Liverpool, Jacaranda (20 May evening)
Brighton, Resident (21 May, evening)
Gosport, A Slice of Vinyl, (22 May daytime)
Everything Must Make Sense! track list
Everything Must Make Sense!
Man On The Loose
How Are You Feeling?
Death Of Me
Bones
28
Bedlam Town
Tough Times Don’t Last
Better Alone
Here Comes The Rain
More at www.thesherlocksmusic.co.uk.
READ MORE: