“Hey Scenesters!,” the most memorable track on this English fuzz-pop trio’s last album, worked like a cynic’s response to Art Brut’s “Formed a Band.” For their third full-length (which Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos produced), the Cribs have grown no more tolerant of cool-kid conformity: “You say nothing / So you’ll always mean nothing to me,” sneers Ryan Jarman on “Our Bovine Public,” while his two brothers lay down a giddy dance-rock groove. Men’s Needs isn’t nearly as unique as Jarman thinks, but his tunecraft is often as sharp as his wit.
Now Hear This: The Cribs – “Men’s Needs” WINDOWS MEDIA HIGH | LOW | QUICKTIME HIGH | LOW
More on the Cribs: SPINhouse Live In the Studio Backstage at Lollapalooza
