Ahead of their long-awaited, full-length album Sheffields premier indie romantics The Crookes are set to release a 7-track EP. Titled Dreams Of Another Day, the EP ties together a handful of older songs from the bands past, many of which havent seen the light of day before and all of which are being put to rest here. Its a sweeping clean of the board before The Crookes set out to make their defining long-playing debut this autumn, a way to give these songs the space they deserve before the band sets off in pursuit of the new.

?ìThis collection of songs serves as a fitting eulogy for a stage that we have left behind,¬ù they say. ?ìTwo years ago we had no idea what we wanted to be or sound like ‚ we just wanted to play and impress our mates. That hasn't completely changed, but we hope that we're beginning to embrace something closely approximating a distinctive sound. Thats for the album though. For now, the EP is a celebration of our heady and shambolic youth¬¶ before we get serious and boring!¬ù

Fittingly, opening track Backstreet Lovers, the EPs lead single, is the first song the band ever wrote together. Its a jaunty piece of urchin pop that ‚ as this EP soon makes evident ‚ is really just one side of the Crookes creative brain. Listen to the plaintive cover of Richard Hawleys Born Under A Bad Sign, complete with winsome xylophone, or the heartbreaking More Blitz than Ritz, or even the multi-layered melodic skills of the terrific Two Drifters, for proof.

Despite having only been on the scene for a couple of years, The Crookes have built up a phenomenal back catalogue of songs. Having already released heartily acclaimed 7¬ù singles on Too Pure and Hit or Heist, as well as contributing a track to fierce pandas Zip It Up compilation EP, their bountiful output meant picking just seven tracks for inclusion here was a tricky choice. ?ìIt really took a long time for us to decide,¬ù they say. ?ìOnce we had come up with the concept there were arguments about not only which tracks to put on the EP but also which version. It was both a pleasantly nostalgic and heartbreaking experience ‚ to revisit the stories and themes and characters of another time inevitably floods you with a wealth of emotion. It puts you in a forgotten place and reintroduces you to the people they were written about.¬ù

Comprising George Waite (bass/vocals), Alex Saunders (lead guitar), Daniel Hopewell (rhythm guitar) and Russell Bates (drums), The Crookes met and formed at Sheffield University, where they studied literature - an obvious influence on their song writing. Rather handily, they named themselves after the area of the Sheffield in which they all lived. ?ìIt was always meant to be a stop-gap name but it just kind of stuck,¬ù they say. ?ìWhenever we leave Sheffield we're always being asked why we've spelled crooks wrong...¬ù

The Crookes will be proving their literary worth when they head out on a tour of Britains favourite libraries in October. Those dates look like this:
SEPTEMBER 27TH LONDON BULL & GATE Club Fandango (with Ultrasound)
OCTOBER 1ST SHEFFIELD Central Library
OCTOBER 2ND LANCASTER Library
OCTOBER 3RD OLDHAM Library
OCTOBER 4TH RUGBY Library
OCTOBER 6TH BOURNE END Library
NOVEMBER 5TH CAMBER SANDS NME Weekender
NOVEMBER 13TH SHEFFIELD Leadmill

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