ALBUM: Men's Needs, Woman's Needs, Whatever
Label: Warner Bros
In a few weeks I'm due to marry a girl from a town known only for coal mines, a ruined castle and liquorice cakes. Despite its humble stature, the neighbouring town has some famous residents. Ryan, Gary and Ross Jarman come from Wakefield, UK and make up the indie/punk rockers, The Cribs.
Their third album, Mens's Needs, Woman's Needs, Whatever is due for US release on July 17and is pretty good. Described as indie/punk, it's only punk in that the label seems to be attached to anyone who raises their voice these days, indie alone conjures up the image of NHS glasses and white pop-socks pulled up as far as they can go on white boys with perfectly messy hair. The Cribs don't really fit that image, but they certainly aren't Iggy Pop or The Ramones Either. No, in fact their nearest sonic relatives are The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand and The Libertines.
Produced by Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, mixed by Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and featuring a special guest appearance by Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth on 'Be Safe' it definitely has big name credentials. And by and large, it delivers too. I won't lie and say I'm crazy about this album, I don't think it does anything that hasn't been done before, there aren't many tracks that I feel I just have to listen to again but it is indie/rock-pop done well. The spoken word appearance from Lee Ranaldo works particularly well actually, it reminds me a lot of 'Out Of Time' era R.E.M. where Michael Stipe talks over 'Belong'.
The Cribs' trump card, is some solid melodies, strong basslines and nice vocal harmonies. The quality of each song is high, production is faultless, and in short if you like the single track (listen below) then the chances are that you'll like every track. I know a lot of people who love this record, so you probably will too.
Rating 3.5/5
Their third album, Mens's Needs, Woman's Needs, Whatever is due for US release on July 17and is pretty good. Described as indie/punk, it's only punk in that the label seems to be attached to anyone who raises their voice these days, indie alone conjures up the image of NHS glasses and white pop-socks pulled up as far as they can go on white boys with perfectly messy hair. The Cribs don't really fit that image, but they certainly aren't Iggy Pop or The Ramones Either. No, in fact their nearest sonic relatives are The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand and The Libertines.
Produced by Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, mixed by Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and featuring a special guest appearance by Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth on 'Be Safe' it definitely has big name credentials. And by and large, it delivers too. I won't lie and say I'm crazy about this album, I don't think it does anything that hasn't been done before, there aren't many tracks that I feel I just have to listen to again but it is indie/rock-pop done well. The spoken word appearance from Lee Ranaldo works particularly well actually, it reminds me a lot of 'Out Of Time' era R.E.M. where Michael Stipe talks over 'Belong'.
The Cribs' trump card, is some solid melodies, strong basslines and nice vocal harmonies. The quality of each song is high, production is faultless, and in short if you like the single track (listen below) then the chances are that you'll like every track. I know a lot of people who love this record, so you probably will too.
Rating 3.5/5
Check out MEN'S NEEDS, the first single off MEN'S NEEDS, WOMEN'S NEEDS, WHATEVER -
Windows:
http://streamos.wbr.com/wmedia/wbr/thecribs/audio/cribs_003_mens-needs_56.wax http://streamos.wbr.com/wmedia/wbr/thecribs/audio/cribs_003_mens-needs_128.wax
Quicktime:
http://streamos.wbr.com/qtime/wbr/thecribs/audio/cribs_003_mens-needs_56.mov http://streamos.wbr.com/qtime/wbr/thecribs/audio/cribs_003_mens-needs_128.mov
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