New Fellas, The - Cribs (The)

...album! That album being "The New Fellas" - the band's second album released on Wichita records, after their debut self-titled release in 2004.

Obviously, 'Indie' would describe the band's style best of all, but after listening to them straight away, an Northern England version of the Strokes would be even better and very much correct - Wakefield to be exact!!

This 11-track offering showcases their talent perfectly. ...
...as the title suggests, a chorus of chanting 'Hey scenesters, hey, hey scenesters!' works well to grab the listeners attention instantly, as do all the first four tracks; "I'm Alright Me", "Martell" and "Mirror Kissers" - the former track really pin-points the Strokes reference, both through the vocals and the guitars, and the latter two are a couple of cracking tracks, very catchy - Martell was my only recollection of ... more

Oh go on then, I'll review another band that thoroughly impressed me at Reading Festival this year, and probably my surprise package of the whole weekend. Before they came on stage, I knew only one song by the Cribs, a three-piece all brother band - Martell; and knew absolutely nothing else. When they finished I was totally converted, so felt it necessary to buy an album! That album being "The New Fellas" - the band's second album released on Wichita records, after their debut self-titled release in 2004.

Obviously, 'Indie' would describe the band's style best of all, but after listening to them straight away, an Northern England version of the Strokes would be even better and very much correct - Wakefield to be exact!!

This 11-track offering showcases their talent perfectly. Opening track "Hey Scenesters!" defines energy and musical competence - as the title suggests, a chorus of chanting 'Hey scenesters, hey, hey scenesters!' works well to grab the listeners attention instantly, as do all the first four tracks; "I'm Alright Me", "Martell" and "Mirror Kissers" - the former track really pin-points the Strokes reference, both through the vocals and the guitars, and the latter two are a couple of cracking tracks, very catchy - Martell was my only recollection of the band before I heard them live - a chorus of the addictive singing of "Someone's got their eye on you now, don't you know, woah oh oh." Can be listened to over and over again without getting bored of it.

"We Can No Longer Cheat You" further proves the whole Strokes-likeness, and with some help from the likes of Franz Ferdinand and the Kaiser Chiefs - a band that they a great friends with - the band came onstage during the Kaiser Chiefs set at Reading to perform the Chiefs song "Modern Way" with them.

"It Was Only Love" seems to have some rather odd vocal effects on it - nothing quite in the Peter Gabriel bracket, which seems to slightly ruin the sound quality. Shame, as it's a good track, unfortunately it could have been a great track.

Obviously, it's not a perfect album, otherwise many more of you would have heard of them and own it. There are flaws. The album's title track seems to be sung slightly off-key - now, here there's seems to be an uncanny resemblence in choruses to the Strokes 'Juicebox'...listen for yourself and you may understand! Yes, the band's style is raw and emotional, but this one just doesn't work for me. Elsewhere, "Hello, Oh?" manages to restore things, so don't panic, it's not a case of just 3 or 4 tracks of merit on the album, it's more a case of 1 or 2 'weaker' moments.

Penultimate track "Haunted" unfortunately is the second of these two moments. A slow affair - the vocal style from Ryan Jarman just doesn't work - it sounds flat. Although the guitar work is excellent, it's a shame that this difference in style hasn't made it. At least the final track, "Things Aren't Gonna Change" finishes the album off on a plus point; returning the energetic stylings of former tracks.

You can buy the album off Amazon for £7.97, or get the special edition which includes a live performance of the album for £15.48…although intriguingly, I brought mine of a website called "Fopp" - they have a select number of record stores around the country, where I managed to snatch it up for just £3 a few weeks back…now it's worth £7, so I've made myself a bargain there!!

Tracks like "Martell", "Mirror Kissers" and "Hey Scenesters!" are ones that I must recommend for you all to download…now, especially if you have any liking for the Strokes, the Kaiser Chiefs or even the Libertines to some extent…and even if you don't, hey, you may surprise yourself!
 

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