The Sherlocks

Comprising two pairs of brothers—vocalist and guitarist Kiaran Crook alongside drummer Brandon Crook, plus bassist Andy Davidson and guitarist Josh Davidson—the Sherlocks came together as an indie rock quartet in mid-2010 within the modest village of Bolton upon Dearne in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. The four friends first experimented with cover versions inside one another’s garages, then shifted to appearances at nearby working-men’s clubs. Once they started composing original material, these songs gradually entered their performances and quickly turned into crowd favorites. Buoyed by this momentum, the group ventured into larger Sheffield venues one by one, ultimately becoming the first unsigned band after fellow Sheffield rockers Arctic Monkeys to sell out the city’s landmark Leadmill.

Throughout the 2010s the Sherlocks sustained remarkable momentum. Their debut single, “Live for the Moment,” appeared in 2014, with “Escapade” and “Heart of Gold” following in 2015; the latter received regular rotation on BBC Radio 1 and Radio 6. Festival slots at Reading and Leeds in both 2015 and 2016 complemented support tours alongside the Courteeners and the Libertines, while an appearance at the 2016 SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, helped cultivate interest across the Atlantic. In autumn 2016 the band issued its fifth single, “Will You Be There?,” and signed with Infectious Records that December. Early the next year, a limited-edition 7" pressing of “Will You Be There?” debuted at number one on the official U.K. vinyl singles chart. This success paved the way for the Sherlocks’ inaugural headline tour of the U.K. and the subsequent announcement of their first full-length, Live for the Moment, slated for later that year.

After the album’s release, the quartet toured extensively across the U.K., Europe, and the U.S. in 2018 while also opening for Liam Gallagher on his European dates. By year’s end the musicians had returned to Liverpool’s Parr Street Studios to begin work on their second record, this time under the guidance of the Coral’s James Skelly. Four weeks of sessions yielded a more refined effort than their debut. The lead track, “NYC (Sing It Loud),” surfaced in June 2019, and the album Under Your Sky arrived several months later, accompanied by another extensive U.K. tour.

Early 2020 brought touring plans to a halt as the COVID-19 pandemic spread globally. Undeterred, the Sherlocks regrouped to compose and track fresh material, enlisting producer Dave Eringa—known for his work with Manic Street Preachers and Idlewild—to broaden their sonic range while preserving the anthemic alt-rock core. Following the advance singles “City Lights” and “Falling,” the resulting album, World I Understand, emerged in late 2021.