The Cribs are an English three-piece indie rock band from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The Smiths and Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr who was made a formal member of the group in 2008. Marr would remain as part of the band until 2011; his departure was officially announced on 11 April through the band's website.
Despite returning to the original trio, the band currently enlists David Jones of Nine Black Alps as a second guitarist for live shows. The band, who first became active on the concert circuit in 2002, were initially tied to other like-minded UK bands of that time, most notably The Libertines, by a British music press that were looking for a 'British rearguard' to the wave of popular US alternative rock bands of the time. In 2008, Q magazine described the band as "The biggest cult band in the UK".
Formed in 2001, The Cribs began gigging locally and caught the eye of Leeds-based indie Squirrel Records; a handshake deal to release a one-off 7" was agreed soon after. Primarily a punk/garage/riot grrrl-based label, Squirrel was still in its infancy at this point, and the single "Baby Don't Sweat/You & I" (a split 7" with Jen Schande) didn't materialise until 2002. It was recorded by the band at their own Springtime Studios, a lo-fi all analogue set-up in an ancient mill.
The band has released four albums on the Wichita label - self-titled debut The Cribs in 2004, The New Fellas in 2005, Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever in 2007 and Ignore The Ignorant in 2009. Known for their staunchly purist approach to recording, the band have often been labeled as 'Lo-Fi'. Significantly, their debut album was recorded in seven days at London's Toe Rag Studio, onto 8-track.
Toe Rag Studio is known for its vintage set-up which is as authentic to an original 1960s studio as is possible in the modern day. Parts of this record were taken from the original sessions the band recorded with Chicago-based avant-garde musician Bobby Conn.
The band's fourth album Ignore The Ignorant was recorded with post-punk producer Nick Launay at Los Angeles' Seedy Underbelly studios and released in the United States on 7 September 2009, preceded by first single "Cheat On Me".
In December 2009, Ignore The Ignorant was placed at number 11 in Mojo magazine's "Albums Of The Year", and at number 7 in The Fly's "Albums Of The Year". At the same time, The New Fellas was named an "Album Of The Century" by Q.
On 9 August 2010, Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe announced during his show that he would be playing a brand new Cribs song that night. The very next day, "Housewife" was released officially on iTunes. No one, from music industry insiders to the band's fans, had any idea that a new single was being geared up until that moment.
On 11 April 2011, the band confirmed that Marr would no longer be part of the band, while Marr also released a statement saying that he would be working on solo material. Earlier in the year, the band announced their plans to work on their fifth album after the summer's festival season.
As of November 2011, the band is in the process of recording their fifth album for release in 2012. According to an interview in The Fly, the producers are Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips) and David Richards (Queen).
In 2007 Lee Ranaldo from Sonic Youth collaborated with the band on their third album. The track "Be Safe" is a Ranaldo spoken word piece performed by the artist, and backed with The Cribs' music. They have a history of collaborations with artists such as Edwyn Collins (Orange Juice), Jon Slade (Huggy Bear, Comet Gain), Bobby Conn (Bobby Conn and The Glass Gypsies), Bernard Butler (Suede, McAlmont and Butler), Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse), the aforementioned Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) and Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand).
