The CribsRyan Jarman's voice is like his guitar tone. A gnarled, angular gnashing of harsh textures and rhythms - that nevertheless proves somehow convivial and welcoming. It's a dichotomy that seems to stretch from Jarman's conversational disposition, through his band's music, to his band's profile and reputation to date. Since inception, The Cribs have proven mysteriously - almost inexplicably - endearing.
Theirs has never been a sound that one would immediately tip for global acclaim (through many claimed to). A weird, unpredictable blend of American post-punk and British pop-rock, The Cribs' output has always seemed too bracing for mass consumption. Yet, even their most brutally lo-fi and abrasive albums have managed to streak themselves with just enough populist songwriting to be embraced by audiences around the world. “I don't think we ever were shooting for that sort of thing,” Jarman says of the band's beginnings. “We weren't really conscious of it, you know? If anything, I think we were kind of fighting against it. When we first started listening to music, everything was Britpop - and that wasn't what we were about at all. We were much more into what was happening in America around Seattle. We kind of fought against what was going on in the UK.”
The band began as an experiment with independent recording for Jarman and his sibling bandmates (bassist twin Gary and younger brother drummer Ross). Punkish defiance and independence has always played a crucial role in their music. Even when The Cribs were eventually signed to Wichita Recordings on the back of their demo experiments, their eponymous 2004 debut album was self-produced and recorded to eight-track.
Yet, by their second album, the band's stripped-back approach was seeing surprising dividends. 2005's The New Fellas would deliver The Cribs a UK top 40 single (Hey Scenesters) and international tours alongside Franz Ferdinand, Death Cab for Cutie and Stephen Malkmus. In 2009, Q Magazine would list The New Fellas as one of their Albums of the Century. By the release of their fourth album Ignore the Ignorant in 2009, The Cribs had signed to a major label (Warner Bros), collaborated with Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, appeared on Conan O'Brien and David Letterman and been invited to open for The Sex Pistols. Such was their success, Smiths' guitarist and general music legend Johnny Marr had even joined the band as a permanent member.
“You try not to get too invested in that stuff,” Jarman reflects. “You know, it's so fleeting and subjective. The same people who are telling us we've written the best album of all time today are probably the same ones who'll be calling us washed-up tomorrow. The Johnny thing is a great example. When he joined, journalists invented this line about him elevating our band to international status - and that was never true... You know, I think we'd definitely broke through and kind of made our mark before Johnny joined the band. He just became this story about us, though. Even when he left, journalists were making up these stories about how we hated each other and kicked him out - but that didn't happen either. We'd already started writing the next album as a three-piece when Johnny decided he would leave.”
“What I'm proud of is our fans, really,” the guitarist muses. “We've developed a very dedicated group of fans over the years. People who trust us from album to album - who are really, truly dedicated to our band, not just our songs or style or records. It can be a bit overwhelming at times, yeah, but I like to think it's a testament to the amount of work our band's put in that those fans even exist.” Five albums in, it's still difficult to make sense of the band's career. Released to considerable critical acclaim earlier this year, The Cribs' fifth album In the Belly of the Brazen Bull has been touted by commentators as potentially constituting the band's definitive album - delivered by the original three-piece line-up, produced by noise-rock royalty (Steve Albini, Dave Fridmann). Still, the band remain hard to pin down.
“There is something special about this album, I feel,” Jarman reflects. “It feels like a return or coming home or something like that. I mean, it obviously was in the sense of it being our first album back as a three-piece after Johnny left. You know, I think we all realised on our last album that The Cribs are meant to be a three-piece. It's always meant to just be us three brothers in the band. I love our last record - but it helped us realise that... It's more than just that, though,” the guitarist reconsiders. “It's weird. It feels like our first album. It has that same spirit to it, I think. When we first started out, we didn't have any ambitions or ideas of what we wanted to do. We just wanted to make a record. That was the same feeling we had around this time. The last one was really quite polished. You know, we recorded with Nick Launay. It was very pop.”
“This one - most people didn't even know we were doing it. We didn't even know we were doing it. We were supposed to be having a break last year but, just for fun, we got together and started jamming on ideas and we just really loved the way it sounded. Just jamming around ideas - it felt like our first album. I think, after our first album, we got a little distracted by what other people thought of us. With this one, I think we're back on track. ”It isn't hard to see why. The Cribs really don't engage with the world of the industry. Strangely, for an act that have such a celebrity presence in their native Britain, they've remained quite an insular act over the years. Whenever a myth has been thrown their way, they've ignored it or challenged it. When they were called lo-fi, they went pop. When Johnny Marr brought in melody, they embraced noise. “I don't feel like there are really any bands out there that we feel a sense of kinship with, to be honest,” Jarman says bluntly. “When we first started, everyone told us we were lo-fi and that we were a lo-fi act. When bands like Bloc Party and The Libertines started popping up, we were all of a sudden being called britpop and lad-rock. Really, I don't mind what anyone wants to call us. It doesn't make any difference.”
“I don't feel like we're a part of any scene or community, though,” the guitarist concludes. “I don't feel like anyone understands us. I don't think that's the point of rock music, though. Personally, I kind of wish people stop trying. Really, I think we're just trying to outlast all that junk, to be honest.”
The Cribs will be playing the following dates:
Wednesday 2 January - Oxford Art Factory, Sydney NSW
Friday 4 January - The Zoo, Brisbane QLD
