Customer Reviews

New Fellas

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a band that is from the third wave of UK bands. Besides Razorlight, most of the previous bands seem like Britpop revivalists. They are conservative bands that offer nothing new. They are happy churning out tunes that sound like Blur or even Gang of Four. The Cribs are a breath of fresh air compared to all that. These are three brothers from Northern England. They are from Leeds (like Gang of Four). This is their second album. It's beginning to catch on. Their sound is all over the place. It's energetic rock that at times seems very mod, grunge and pop. They sing songs about every day life. In "Martell" they sing about "How hard can it be/To get a slap on the back from a room full of morons?" In the song "Hey Scenesters" they warn people about fads being copied and co-opted. They even have funny lines like "groupies and cameras/You come out like leeches." The Cribs end up being pretty cool. They may sound like The Jam, Buzzcocks, and Nirvana at times, but they end up not sounding like anybody. They have an interesting way of phrasing their lyrics, which seems half spoken and half sung. The Cribs give you a lot of cool sounds and looks. They are some interesting cats. This might be a band to be on the lookout for.

The Cribs have obvious influences from the Strokes and Libertines school of rock. On this CD they are produced by Edwyn Collins and it shows beautifully. Collins revolutionized indie pop in the '80's with Orange Juice and has been a major catalyst with everything he has since touched. (Unfortunately, this may be one the the last albums Collins produced before his recent brain haemorrhage.) The album opens with a cracking classic, "Hey Scensters!," and maintains a steady rhythm of rocking songs and sing-along lyrics. Once I opened the CD months ago I have listened almost daily. If you like The Strokes, Libertines, Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, give this a chance. If you like this and have not experienced Edwyn Collins' other work, I highly commend it and a historical drill-down to the recent Orange Juice compilation "The Glasgow School."

I had never heard of the Cribs until about 2 months ago or so, when I heard that they were touring with Franz Ferdinand. I of course went to the show, and realized what I had been missing!

The Crib's music isn't anything new, or out-of-the box, or something you've never heard before- it's just simply good. Exciting, fun guitar-pop songs mixed in with all the goodness that punk and garage bands have to offer. Their lyrics are blunt (the chant- "You know it's not right but it's something you like!"), fresh ("But now you think you're right/with your reluctance to accept us/but I know that will change/when it's cool to be an outsider") and often-times funny ("I've got problems with chances/like groupies with cameras"). They make fun of the "cool" indie kids on songs like "Hey Scenesters!" and "I'm Alright, Me" and it makes for fun, catchy tunes that make you hate the in-crowd too. It's not like this is the band that will change your life, but they will make it a lot more fun music-wise.

I would definitely recommend seeing them live- they epitomise the rock star lifestlye with their tight jeans, drum- hopping, and on-stage smoking- it makes for an entertaining evening. Also, I would check out their first album although this one is better.

This is a very good album. If you dig the strokes and the libertines than this band should definiatly be in your collection. The song "We can no longer cheat you" is classic. I think that if you are having a tough time waiting for the new Strokes album, this should ease your pain.

Better than their first album, this 11 song album is definatly worth your while. However: be warned that this band is sort of a knock off of the strokes. None the less, this CD is definatly a winner. The songs "hey scensters" and "Martell" are the best. good album yes very good album