The Cribs - For All My Sisters

The Cribs have promised us two new albums, the first is For All My Sisters, which will feature more pop influences than the second one, which will be more punk inspired. This is the sixth album from the three brothers, Gary, Ryan, and Ross Jarman. The album was recorded in New York and was produced be Ric Ocasek, frontman of The Cars.

The first single we were treated to, Burning For No One, received 200,000 YouTube views in its first week of being released and was Zane Lowe’s hottest record of the week. The song is good - it follows the same formula that most Cribs songs do, heavily relying on repeated guitar riffs and their distinct vocal sounds.

My favourite song on For All My Sisters is Different Angle on which you can really tell with the first few guitar chords that previous member Johnny Marr has left his mark. The song feels very similar to the tracks on their 2007 album, Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever.

You can tell that the Jarman brothers have spent a long time working on this album; throughout you can feel the more mature sounds coming though and greater complexity in their song writing. The first song Finally Free certainly fits the “Cribs pop album” description which the band have given it; a very good song. The final song is an epic ending to the album, with the band getting everything out of their instruments. A huge final song is a trend we have seen since The Cribs very first album, and Pink Snow doesn’t disappoint.

City Storms, Summer Of Chances, and Diamond Girl are all filled with huge guitar riffs and solid chorus’ guitar melodies, all intertwined with typical breakup lyrics. It is the subtle second guitar sounds and the underlying bass that make the tracks so good.

Noel Gallagher has been quoted saying that there are no more great English rock bands. He claims that the Artic Monkeys are pop and that Kasabian are a group of posers. Both of these statements hold some truth (though not as much truth as Gallagher might like to think). However, I think he would have a problem trying to justify that The Cribs aren’t a great British rock band. Even Johnny Marr (possibly the only person the ex-Oasis member has said is better than him) thinks The Cribs are brilliant.

The Cribs are one of the best live bands I have ever seen and I would strongly recommend going to see them if you can. They have just been added to the T in the Park line up and will be at a few festivals over the summer. For All My Sisters is a classic Cribs album, and though it isn’t going to win any new fans for the band, it is certainly going to excite their current fans. This album adds some great songs to an already immense repertoire.