Yorkshire indie favourites The Cribs make a long-awaited return to Australia off the back of their 2017 studio album '24-7 Rock Star Sh*t'.
Produced by Steve Albini, the album was recorded live-to-tape in just five days resulting in a return to The Cribs' early days of raw, honest rock.
Guitarist and vocalist Ryan Jarman says the response to the album has been split between fans who love it and mainstream music critics who he thinks missed the point entirely. “It's been really interesting actually because our fan base have really loved it because it's a return to something a bit more stripped-back,” Ryan says.
“It was all recorded live and I think a lot of our fan base has really liked it, in fact all our fan base have really liked it. People that are generally supportive of The Cribs are glad that after going for 15 years, [this album] is stripped back and it's rare that bands do that, so I feel like we got some props in that way for it.”
However, Ryan found himself at a loss when the album received critiques for being too lo-fi. “We ran into classic issues,” he says.
“We heard a lot of the time people saying 'oh it's too lo-fi, it can't be played on the radio, it can't do this, it can't do that'. I thought in this day-and-age where people are literally making records at home on a laptop that no one would care.
“Who gives a sh*t if your record doesn't sound like it cost a million dollars to make? I thought the world had changed a little bit, but no we still got hit with that same criticism of 'it's too lo-fi'. But at the same time, it has been our most successful record commercially so it doesn't make any sense to me.”
At any rate, for Ryan '24-7 Rock Star Sh*t' stands as one of the finest and strongest additions to their catalogue especially considering its placement in multiple charts.
“In some ways it's the record I'm the most proud of, you know what I mean? I'm really proud we made a record in five days and beat all these pop acts in the charts. To me that's cool, that's a neat trick.”
The Cribs will be doing the national rounds in April and May, including a spot at boutique festival The Gum Ball courtesy of the gang at Dashville. Ryan says he and the band are particularly looking forward to the tour since they rarely have the chance to get to Australia.
“We only found out about the tour recently,” he says.
“We were supposed to be having time off but we haven't been to Australia in such a long time. We said we'd do it because it's somewhere we're always excited to go and we haven't been there that many times.
“I think we've only ever been to Australia three or four times and every time we've gone we've really enjoyed it. We really enjoy Australian crowds; the vibe is always really good and I think people go to shows for the right reason, which is to have a good time and that suits us perfect.”
The Cribs Tour Dates
27-29 April - The Gum Ball (Hunter Valley)Sat 28 Apr - The Back Room (Brisbane)
Tue 1 May - Badlands Bar (Perth)
Thu 3 May - The Lansdowne Hotel (Sydney)
Fri 4 May - The Crown & Anchor (Adelaide)
Sat 5 May - Yah Yah's (Melbourne)
