This is the latest peeking of the Jarman brothers collective heads since their hibernation following 2012's full length release 'In the Belly of the Brazen Bull'. Teaser track 'An Ivory Hand' was gifted to Cribs fans shortly after the official announcement of the new record, and though it didn't have me clinging onto the replay button for days on end like I wish a new Cribs song would, after a few listens I felt an uncertain but familiar warmth that the band gave me in the lead up to their last LP.
The track kicks off and throws me back into a world with The Cribs like they'd never left, instantly feeling the force of all three Jarmans with help from producer and ex Cars member Ric Ocasek. A vocal mirroring synth runs alongside a weezer-esque melody and a crunching guitar riff in a cleanly produced menage a trois of catchyness. The Cribs have always had a way with chorus' and vocal hooks, and in this teaser track, front men Ryan and Gary continue their form, less in the spit soaked microphone screams that I have grown accustom to, and more fist on chest vocal bellows toward the back wall of space that they began to favour on their last record. This ever changing Cribs cycle looked to me to be continuing its evolution in a positive light.
Though something didn't quite sit right with me after hearing this teaser track; maybe it is the time apart and the growing both I and the Cribs have experienced over the years that meant I didn't click with the song, but I was desperate to hear more to know for sure whether we were both still on the same tracks.
Then I saw they had dropped a second teaser single. Hoping not to be correct about catchyness for catchyness' sake in this new direction, I went into 'Burning for No One' with a fragile mindset. Upon and after the four second mark of the song I fell weak at the ears. To be a long-serving member of The Cribs' fan-base and hear such blandness on all fronts was somewhat impossible to believe. The song doesn't move on from it's pub band dwelling rhythm guitar twang that is revisited after a chorus that is flatteringly given a double round each time. The track comes and goes leaving nothing to look back on or revisit, unless you're going back to check whether what you just heard was in fact a Cribs song or not. .
Perhaps this pop drenched offspring of 2009 album 'Ignore the Ignorant' exists due to the talk of a split LP from the band when they first hinted this new release. One record to accommodate their long standing fans, who recognize the band as a force that (with the exception of Johnny Marr induced hiccup 'Ignore the Ignorant') has pressed up against the box of mainstream British chart music and delivered a blemished and unforgiving alternative. The other to rightly or wrongly exist within said box and attract interest from those who may be unfamiliar with the band, or just prefer their more poppy adventures.
However, it seems instead that they could be looking to pass in and out of these two musical avenues within the track-listing of the one LP, which by the sounds of this second single, could mean more upsetting times to come. I will of course listen to the the full album and review it upon its release. I can only hope that within a full project I can see the bigger picture of songs like 'Burning for No One' whilst I get my teeth into what more is to come along the parallel of 'An Ivory Hand'.
In case you missed the hyperlinks you can check the songs out here:
Burning for No One - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tMG68Orftw
An Ivory Hand - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tMG68Orftw
CHECK OUT THEIR OTHER PROJECTS WHILE YOU'RE AT IT IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY.
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