The Crookes: The Lucky Ones Review

By Demarcus Cobb
Music Journalist

Originally published on February 17, 2016.

Artist: The Crookes
Album: Lucky Ones
Label: Anywhere Records
Release Date: January 29th 2016
Website: http://thecrookes.co.uk/

The Crookes send you on a wave of clouds and up and downs on their fourth LP, The Lucky Ones. This is the first release by their own indie label, Anywhere Records. The British quartet deliver a very unique pop sound, New Pop, that sounds like a mix of early Weezer mixed with Manners by Passion Pit sprinkled with anything by The Cure.

The album is full of catchy melodies, surf rock riffs with a kiss of a chorus effect, dreamy synths and bubbliness all driven by Daniel Hopewell’s lyrics of young love, romanticism and angst. In “No One Like You”, Hopewell writes, “You left me dizzy with a kiss, I swear I’m your perfume”.

Some songs make you want to get up and dance while others are calming with a distorted groove delivered by the bassist, George Waite. The fittingly-titled opening track “Brand New Start” gives you a nice, warm welcome into the album. The slowly-stroked chords with delay meshed with the Passion Pit-esque vox and synths are a nice psych out leading into “The World is Waiting”, one of the most energetic, bouncy tracks off of the album. The Crookes keep you on your toes for what’s to come. My personal favorite song from the album is “Lucky Ones”, a down-tempo, arena rock-ish track with a MGMT feel to it.

When it comes down to rating this album, I really cannot mention anything negative about this album and that is rare for me to say. Lucky Ones is a solid listen, beginning to end, a great CD to have the car for a road trip. After hearing this album, I would love to see these guys and hear these songs on a festival stage.The overall sound of the album is very refreshing; each song has its own uniqueness while maintaining a cohesive sound like a real album should. When you don’t want to skip any songs, you have a quality album.

The Crookes are currently on a three month tour throughout UK and US including a stop in Austin. If you’re going to be attending South By Southwest, you might want to add them on your list of bands to see. Also, check out the video for their latest single “I Wanna Waste My Time On You.”