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The Cribs:
Self-Titled
The Cribs are a new UK band of three brothers averaging 19 years in age, and their debut is on Wichita Recordings, apparently a label some old Creation Records people started without Alan McGee. Yes, thats a formula for trouble when you remember all the fights that Oasis had, and that was just two brothers! But the Cribs seem to get along in an amusing and almost nave sort of way: We dont have to deal with all the shit that goes down in other bandsTheres no musical differences: we all listened to the same records when we were growing up. Ok, so what do they sound like? Well they definitely dont sound like Creation Records kids, but they remind me a whole lot of Ash especially Ashs first release, Trailer. Ash were three teenagers at the time of their debut, and their love for Kiss and AC/DC shown through quite clearly on Trailer, but they also came up with some signature gems like Jack Names the Planets that showed what Ash might later become. So lets view The Cribs debut as their version of Trailer. Were not looking for perfection here, but we are looking for enthusiasm and a few strong nuggets of promise. And up to these standards, The Cribs deliver just what were looking for. The bouncy guitar on the LP reminds me of the Libertines or Franz Ferdinand more than the heavy metal sounds of early Ash, but the vocals are a bit shaky in places evoking the same sort of awkward charm you could hear in the young Tim Wheeler. Album closer, Third Outing, is a bit heavier and unstructured, reminding me a bit of The Sluts of Trust. The album starts off quite differently though, with an odd sort of waltz track; but its catchy, and it gives you a chance to prepare yourself for the next ten tracks that speed past you pretty quickly. The songs are around two to three minutes, but the singer crams in a bunch of good lyrics in a short time. The whole album is catchy, but three of the tracks here jump out at me as top-shelf Brit-pop. Single Baby Dont Sweat is just fantastic, a carefree vocal delivery with lots of guitar noodling, quick sudden changes in tempo, and yes, even hand claps near the end. Jack Names the Planets Check. Then You Were the One has some bouncy verses, kind of like that old Local H hit that said copacetic a lot. Luckily though, the chorus is a breeze of pure pop melody instead of Local Hs grunge tantrum. I was also won over by The Lights Went Out, where The Cribs sing I dont know when the lights went out, but the lights are out now. This sort of lyrical simplicity is classic Brit-pop. The lyrics double up as a metaphor for either losing a moment of intellectual clarity or blacking out after drinking too much alcohol. What more can you ask for from a song? Lets hope they stick around longer than Menswear.
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