"The Crookes" are a British indie rock band who formed in Sheffield in 2008. Current (2015) line-up, Daniel Hopewell (guitar / backing vocals), Tom Dakin (guitar / backing vocals), George Waite (lead vocals / bass) and Adam Crofts (drums). The band formed in 2008, naming themselves after the suburb of Crookes in Sheffield, where the guitarists Alex Saunders and Daniel Hopewell met before later recruiting George Waite on vocals and Russell Bates ... on drums. In September 2011 the band posted a message on their Web site stating that Alex Saunders was to leave the band. They wrote "He left for personal reasons and completely amicably". As of 1 February 2015, it was announced that the band's drummer since the start, Russell Bates, will no longer be playing with the band. NME championed the band, describing how "a band this good are unlikely to remain obscure for long". The Crookes were named as The Guardian Band of The Day in September 2009 and have also been named as BBC 6 Music's favourite new band, with Lamacq later describing them as his "favourite British band of the year" on BBC Radio 2. The band's style has been described as a fusion of "heartbreaking melodies", inspired by 1950s and 1960s pop music and Kitchen sink realism.See more [+]