The Crooks - Hypercell

Chesterfield’s The Crooks recently release their debut EP ‘Hypercell’ via Run On Records and Modern Sky UK. Recorded and produced in Glasgow by Chris Marshall, ‘Hypercell’ was mastered by Natalie Bibby at Air Studios.

The band returned in 2024 and have built towards this point with a string of singles. ‘In The Meantime’ which features here, becoming an anthemic to their live shows. What was relief to fans was just the beginning of their second coming. The arduous life of being a band today began again, having allowed time to pass once, would not happen again, would it?

Bridging the gap between their initial run and their second coming is former single ‘In The Meantime’. Big meaty chorus and hooks with space for fans unite in anthemic euphoria once more.

‘Always’ and ‘Mesmerises Me’ both mark a foray into a new mature sound. The former is blessed with pure sense of exploration which allows the riffs to move away from Seahorses parody and toward a hopeful and authentic rock ‘n’ roll pastiche. ‘Mesmerises Me’ fluid guitars are born out of the same bedroom of dreams. The kind that, with Embrace’s gospel-hymn expansiveness and their own unshakeable sense of destiny, lift the band to the edge of the horizon, close enough to kiss it.

On Madness and The Lines, they hit upon the sound their peers Rolla have been perfecting in recent times. Violent basslines and aggressive licks allow for snarling vocals to swell. Where they differentiate themselves is, not fully detonating, they remain in a stasis of menace rather than violence.

Certain alt genres give bands space to grow into their sound. When you’re a balls-out rock ’n’ roll band armed with great melodies, it’s more all or nothing. The Crooks haven’t taken it all here, but there’s a maturity creeping into their playing, expanding those anthems with shades of darkness and giving their lyrics room for narrative twists. Time may have elapsed, but it has not been wasted. There is now a depth to match their aching ambition for big stages.