Johnny Marr of The Cribs. Here’s something I couldn’t seem to get used to. People referring to him as ‘The Cribs’ guitarist’ makes me feel uncomfortable. And, somehow, the thought of a new Cribs album with Marr on guitar made me feel uncomfortable. I was really praying it wouldn’t turn into “Dashboard” Part 2. So it took me a while to actually play “Ignore The Ignorant”.
And instead of wondering why is Marr in this band (like it happened why Modest Mouse), I actually enjoyed it from first to last chord. Yes, what Marr is playing is, to some extent, a variation of The Smiths. Which is only natural, I guess, as:
- It is Marr we’re talking about his. His tunesmith won’t change over night.
- It does fit The Cribs music (and not Electronic).
But saying his guitar is Smiths-like does not mean The Cribs are now a bunch of The Smiths copy-cats. Marr’s guitar exists only to enhance the Jarmans music, not suffocate it or just offer media hype. His chords are nicely wrapped around what was already there – a great and really creative band. And you kind of do know he’s the reason why the title track is a small brother of Smiths’ “Panic”.
But “City of Bugs” can pass for a Sonic Youth song (god, Gary Jarman does sound like Thurston Moore), while the following track, “We Share The Same Skies”, throws you in a New Order world. Not to mention that closing track “Stick To Yr Guns” is pure “Transformer” Lou Reed and “Cheat On Me”'s jingly guitar is a nod to The Charlatans.
And, as a whole, it is clear that among the ones who crafted this album are the tree people who wrote “Men’s Needs” and “The New Fellas”. It might not be that raw as its predecessors and it’s definetly a more mature record, but “Ignore The Ignorant” is just angry, its lyrics spit the same amount of bile as always (lyrics like ‘The mid-shelf masturbation/Leaves a smear on half the nation’ are typical Jarman lines) and it’s going to make the crowd jump as high as they used to before.
Photo courtesy of The Cribs myspace
No comments:
Post a Comment