The Cribs

For a band gearing up for their fifth album, Wakefield indie kids The Cribs have lost none of their boundless energy, their enthusiasm matched from the off by their perpetually teenage fanclub. With his DIY haircut and atrocious Freddie Mercury jacket, guitarist Ryan Jarman is a heroic anti-star, gratefully accepting demo CDs one moment, feet on the monitors the next. The new songs he and bassist brother Gary debuted didn’t deviate from The Cribs’ established template of vibrant, intelligent rock, but when your audience sing the words AND the guitar lines to every song you know you’ve nailed it.

Concorde 2, 2 March 2012

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