Gig review: The Cribs, Liquid Room, Edinburgh

“THANKS for still believing in the Cribs,” said bassist and singer Gary Jarman humbly towards the end of this show. It was an occasion, if not quite for humility, at least for approaching with a little trepidation on his band’s behalf.

Now no longer abetted by ex-Smith Johnny Marr on guitar, this early preview date of material from the Cribs’ forthcoming fifth album In the Belly of the Brazen Bull came in a far smaller venue than they’ve been used to for a while.

In the final reckoning, the show reinforced two things about Wakefield’s Jarman and his brothers Ryan (guitar, vocals) and Ross (drums) – that they find it hard to take their foot off the pedal and step back from an exuberantly over-driven indie-rock sound, and that on their best form, they’re still very much a band worthy of the belief their fans show in them. Amidst the noisy tumult, they have a grand way with a yearning key change or a more mature than most lyric, and what snippets of new songs Jaded Youth or Come On, Be a No-One were audible left us wishing for a lyric sheet.

At this moment, Ryan’s self-deprecating statement that “you guys like the old school Cribs stuff better, right? It is cooler, I know…” is probably true, but then the new material will probably take a bit of bedding in. It will come though, and the bigger stages will surely return soon.

david pollock