When it come to raucous rowdy bar music, the British have got us beat both in enthusiasm and catchiness. The embodiment of this claim lies with the Wakefield trio, the Cribs, whose stripped down raw rock anthems seem to start off as a rant to the bar tender and grows into an all out sing along riot. Their new album “Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever” was produced by Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos, and you can hear that classy gent’s influence on the band especially when lead singer Ryan Jarman tames his vocals with a little swoon or adds in a super catchy “Oh Oh oh OH!” The sound of The Cribs is like three instruments being released into the wild of a Strokes concert. I imagine the recording process was less like singing into a can and more like video taping a lion while trying to tranquillize and cage it. It’s dangerous, and you may regret it, but if it works you’ll never stop playing it for your friends.
MP3 – I’m a Realist – The Cribs
Video for “Men’s Needs”:
