{"id":4887,"date":"2020-11-20T14:48:36","date_gmt":"2020-11-20T14:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=4887"},"modified":"2020-11-20T14:48:40","modified_gmt":"2020-11-20T14:48:40","slug":"the-cribs-make-a-stunning-return-with-new-album-night-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipamusic.co.uk\/?p=4887","title":{"rendered":"The Cribs make a stunning return with new album Night Network"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ALBUM REVIEW: The Cribs \u2013 Night Network (Sonic Blew\/PIAS)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

After three years in the wilderness, unable to record or tour due to legal wrangles after changing their long-time management, the brothers Jarman are back with their eighth album, on their own label, and sounding as good as ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Formed in Wakefield in 2002, The Cribs<\/a><\/strong> were part of the UK’s mid ’00s avalanche of guitar-toting indie bands, but always stood slightly apart from the rest, unafraid to plough their own furrow, and becoming a hugely popular cult band in the process. Johnny Marr, legendary guitarist with The Smiths, even joined them for a while, so they must have been doing something right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While they’ll always be rooted in West Yorkshire, they’re spread all over the place nowadays. Gary (bass and vocals) lives in Portland, Oregon, his twin Ryan (guitar and vocals) in Queens, New York, with only younger brother Ross (drums) still a resident of WF1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they gathered in the UK for a family Christmas (shouldn’t that be Cribs-mas?) in December 2018, they began working on songs in Ross\u2019s garage, and found the old creative juices flowing in the same way they did nearly half a lifetime ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The songs came together fast, so they contacted the Foo Fighters, who they’d supported in the summer of 2018, and took them up on an offer of using their LA studio to record them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the first album self-produced by the band. And though they’ve worked with the likes of Edwyn Collins, Alex Kapranos, Nick Launay, Dave Fridmann, Rik Okasek and Steve Albini, no one knows what The Cribs sound like better than the band themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happily, it’s not an album full of tales of woe about the record industry. That’s dealt with on opening track Goodbye, which draws a line under the past in a slice of melancholic indie-pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other bands might have been tempted to use it as a gentle closer, but in The Cribs’ hands it’s a big two fingers to the past, and when their trademark slightly dissonant guitar kicks in two-thirds the way through, you know they’re back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From then on, it’s an album full of bangers, with second track Running Into You taking us back to the sort of exultant songs they were making at their New Fellas\/Men’s Needs peak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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