The Cribs - 'Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever' (Wichita) Released 21/05/07

The Cribs are back- the table smashing, Live 8 inventing riot boy punks from Wakefield are here again with album number three the snotty-titled ‘Men’s Need’s, Women’s Needs, Whatever’. Having emerged from the post Libertines scene way back when anybody with Doherty’s dealers number could get a label The Cribs delivered a scratchy but tune packed album full of Buzzcocks vim and Pistols-esque vigour. On album 2 came the anthems, ‘Martell’, Mirror Kissers’ and biggest of all- ‘Hey. Scenesters’, a fashionista baiting bile pop anthem released when Hadouken! were still doing their SATs- catapulted the band to indie fame and notoriety. Having built up a devoted and rabid fan base the band toured relentlessly both on their own and with old friends The Kaiser Chiefs quietly but firmly establishing themselves as one of the nations favourite bands.

The thing with The Cribs is they have perfect pop songs that then seem to be shredded apart by a mixture of dodgy vocals and bad production.  Sure, they have a unique DIY charm but on album three it would be nice to hear them embracing the pop star personas they often flirt with. The announcement of Alex Kapranos as producer on this album was encouraging to say the least- Kapranos is a man who knows his way around credible pop songs. So has he made any difference? Well not really. ‘Men’s Needs’ is still unmistakably a product of the brothers Jarman, all lo-fi guitars, sore throat vocal delivery and fast paced punk. ‘Our Bovine Public’ is an instantaneous blast of utter brilliance, Beach Boys style vocals over pulsating guitar- this is the sound of three men utterly in love with life and channelling it through their instruments. Follow this with ‘Girls Like Mystery’ and ‘Men’s Needs’ shows The Cribs know how to fill a Barfly dancefloor but also show they have not moved on musically one single iota. Every song on this album would quite happily slot onto ‘The New Fellas’ or even the bands debut album. It’s not that we want to see The Cribs become a folk band or a death metal outfit but there is a point when the same song with different lyrics stops being fun and becomes offensive.

The one track that stands out however is ‘Be Safe’, the spoken word duet with Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth. A slow paced grungey drone of guitars is Ranaldos canvas and he spreads his magic across it, the combination of spoken word and Gary Jarmans haunting, strained vocals is devastatingly brilliant. We say devastating as it shows how good a bit of creative intelligence can make this album sound.  The albums closing track ‘Shoot The Poets’ again shows that moving away from The Cribs blueprint pays dividends with Ryan Jarman taking vocal duties and delivering a beautiful and simple acoustic shanty.

If you already like The Cribs don’t let this review deter you from buying the album- if what you want is another album of pop punk with a Yorkshire accent then this delivers 100%. However it lacks any identity of its own. When the band should be pushing themselves in new directions they seem content to sit still playing it safe. With similar outfits like The Pigeon Detectives, The Enemy and (God forbid) The Twang prepared to take the ‘Lads with guitars’ crown from them The Cribs could have really done to deliver on album number three. In a sane world it could be The Cribs, not the Kaiser Chiefs who are Yorkshires biggest band, but instead of pushing their pop side or indulging in experimentation they have remained the same and that is the biggest crime in music (After Ryan Jarman’s haircut).