The Cribs are an English 4-piece indie rock band from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The band consist of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. Recently they have been joined by ex-The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr who has been made a formal member of the group since 2008. The band, who first became active on the concert circuit in 2002, were initially tied to other like-minded UK bands of that time, most notably The Libertines.
Recordings
The Cribs first started to garner fervent record label interest within their first few local shows in early 2002, but held off from venturing down to London , instead opting to sign to tiny Leeds based indie label Squirrel Records, a label known for their fiercely underground ethos and, at the time, primarily female based roster. This union yielded the self recorded single "Baby Don't Sweat/You & I"- the bands first official release ( a split single with Jen Schande on the flip-side). In 2003 the band formally signed with Wichita Recordings, becoming the first British band on the label. The band have to date released 3 albums on the Wichita label - self titled debut The Cribs in 2004, The New Fellas in 2005 and Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever in 2007. Known for their staunchly purist approach to recording, the band have often been labeled as 'Lo-Fi'. Significantly, their debut album was recorded in 7 days at London's Toe Rag Studio, onto 8-track. Toe Rag Studio is known for it's vintage set up which is as authentic to an original 1960s studio as is possible in the modern day. Parts of this record were taken from the original sessions the band recorded with Chicago based avant-garde musician Bobby Conn.
The New Fellas, the band's second release, was recorded with Edwyn Collins, the singer/songwriter and guitarist from Glasgow's influential Orange Juice in London at his own studio. Again, a comparatively unpolished record sonically, as both the producer Collins and the band themselves were achieving sounds similar to those heard on the Orange Juice records. This was, however, the intention and the reason the band and producer were put together. One song, the acoustic lament 'Haunted' was recorded on Scarborough beach in the middle of winter, totally live, on a whim after hearing a Steve Martin ukulele duet performed on a beach in Hawaii, complete with rolling waves and seagulls in the background. B-sides recorded around this period were all self-produced and undertaken at the bands own Springtime Studios, in Wakefield, a 16 track all analogue affair in an ancient mill.
Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever saw the band finally take steps to progress forth from their 'Lo-Fi' roots [1] being recorded in Canada with Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand as producer. The album was mixed by Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Foo Fighters). The album was released on May 21, 2007 and was preceded by a single, Men's Needs, on May 7, which reached #17.
Their song "Martell" from The New Fellas release was featured in the Canadian Telus Commercial, a series of commercials known for consistently featuring less mainstream yet iconic music ranging from Daft Punk to Supergrass.
The band appeared on Later with Jools Holland in May 2007, prior to the release of Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever, where they played the songs Men's Needs, Our Bovine Public and I'm a Realist. Men's Needs is the bands biggest hit to date, reaching number 17 in the UK charts. The track has also picked up many accolades, including being named 3rd best track of 2007 by NME, Track of the Year 2007 by the Metro paper and finishing in the 100 best tracks in Rolling Stone magazine in the USA.
Their song Hey Scenesters! was listed in NME's "50 Greatest Indie Anthems Of All Time". The band were one of only a few contemporary bands included in the list.
They appeared on the Late Night with Conan O'Brien on July 18, 2007, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on July 27, 2007 and The Late Show with David Letterman on March 18th, 2008.
Recently, the band were personally invited to support the Sex Pistols at four of their five comeback concerts in Brixton in November.
In November 2007, The Cribs were named as the headlining act of the highly-prestigious 2008 NME Awards Tour. They were nominated for four NME awards; Best British Band, Best Live Act, Best Track ("Men's Needs") and Hero Of The Year (Ryan Jarman),[2] but won none of these awards.
In February 2008, they released I'm A Realist/Bastards of Young, the latter a cover of a song by The Replacements.[3]
Live performances
Known for their raucous, unpredictable live shows the band have built-up a fanatical following due to a heavy touring schedule since the release of the first record. Their DIY ethic also led to them touring independently, when they were supposed to be off the road writing. Although this contributed to the bands success, and much larger venues, the band have always claimed to be more at home doing things in that way. On their first tour back after recording the third record in early 2007 the band returned to their roots and held some gigs in very small, intimate venues, including a show in their hometown at the Wakefield Escobar and another at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds (a venue they used to play at when they first started out). In June, they returned to Leeds at the climax of their full-size UK tour with two consecutive sold out nights at the University Refectory (the first band to do this since Ian Dury and the Blockheads 30 years ago). They subsequently came back and accomplished the same feat in 2008, after the show being presented with an award by the University for being the first band in it's history to have '2 consecutive years of 2 consecutive nights of sell-out shows at Leeds University Refectory'. In 2007 the band spoke out against the mainstreaming of Indie in the NME.
Collaborations
In 2007 Lee Ranaldo from Sonic Youth collaborated with the band on their third album. The track "Be Safe" is a Ranaldo spoken word piece performed by the artist, and backed with The Cribs' music. They have a history of collaborations with artists such as Edwyn Collins (Orange Juice), Jon Slade (Huggy Bear, Comet Gain), Bobby Conn (Bobby Conn and The Glass Gypsies), Bernard Butler (Suede, McAlmont and Butler), Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse) and the aforementioned Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) and Alex Kapranos ( Franz Ferdinand). The band are currently collaborating with Johnny Marr (The Smiths) who has recently confirmed himself as a full time member of the band.
Discography
Albums
Singles
Showing UK chart positions
Singles
External links
References
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