The latest album by The Cribs, the UK trio of siblings that galvanized indie rock in the 2000s with their blend of raucous punk and infectious power pop, was recorded in five days.
Named 24-7 Rock Star Shit after the type of celebrity musicians they never wanted to become, the record is comprised of 10 loose and vibrant punk songs that multiple critics have described by the somewhat trite expression of “a return to their roots.”
Bassist Gary Jarman, who also provides vocals along with his twin brother Ryan, thinks the description fits, but perhaps more in its intention rather than sound.
“It’s a return to our roots in that we wrote and recorded it without any preconceptions of it being a commercial product,” he says. “When you write your debut record, you are just trying to make yourselves happy; nothing else matters because you never expect anyone to hear it. And you record it as raw or as sloppy as you like because there are no rules at that point.”
He goes on to describe the paranoia that sets in as fame arrives, making you “dogged by your own expectation and that of others,” and then explains how the band tried to shake off the trappings of their ever-increasing notoriety for 24-7 by refusing to take money from their label or publishers.
“That freed us up because no one had any direct investment in it except us, just like when you first start a band,” Gary says. “The irony is that it was our highest charting record… so maybe trying too hard is overrated.”
The album’s effortless feel may also stem from the fact that the brothers have been performing together for a lifetime, starting long before the outset of their 15 years of touring. They made their debut (as a Queen cover band) for family on New Years Eve 1989, when Gary and Ryan were 9 and Ross, the youngest brother and the band’s drummer, was 5.
“We made Ross a drum kit out of a snare drum and biscuit tin lid,” says Gary. “He slayed it and stole the show.”
This month, the Cribs are taking 24-7 Rock Star Shit on tour through China, where they’ve performed once before on a sunny late afternoon as part of Split Works’ 2016 Concrete & Grass Festival in Shanghai. They ended up staying an extra day to explore the city along with fellow Concrete & Grass headliners Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.
This time around, they’ll be joined onstage by notorious Shanghai punks Dirty Fingers, with additional tour stops in Beijing, Chengdu and Wuhan.
“We absolutely loved playing in Shanghai last time,” says Ross. “We didn’t even know that people cared about our band, so we were overwhelmed when people told us they’d been waiting for us to play there.”
The fervency of their China supporters should not have come as too much of a surprise to The Cribs, as they are known to have some of the most devoted and organically engaged fans in the business. So much so that just last month, sales of their seminal 2007 album, Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever, reached certified gold in the UK, because fans have been steadily buying it for the last 11 years.
Their popularity has as much to do with their punk ethos as it does with their knack for creating irrepressibly catchy and accessible hooks, most notably in anthems like ‘Men’s Needs’ and ‘Hey Scenesters!’ Gary sees this dynamic as essential to the band’s identity.
“We were always a mess of contradictions,” he says. “A lo-fi band that loves big 80s pop music; anti-commercial but suckers for a big chorus.”
Throw in a DIY album more than a decade into their career that’s fast becoming their most successful yet, and The Cribs may not be 24-7 rock stars, but they have carved a remarkable trajectory.
“I haven’t mellowed that much,” says Gary, reflecting on any changes over the years in the band’s influences and aesthetic. “If anything, my values have just become more ingrained.
“The way that indie rock has gone so pastoral and meek while at the same time sounding so pristine and designed has made me more and more in love with the loser music I cherished in my teens. I just think things are so much more affecting when they aren’t perfect.”
Chengdu: May 8, 8pm, NU SPACE with supporting band Hiperson海朋森.
Wuhan: May 10, 8pm, VOX with supporting band Panic Worm.
Shanghai: May 11, 8pm, RMB180 presale, RMB220 door. Modern Sky Lab with supporting band Dirty Fingers. See event listing, buy tickets.
Beijing: May 13, 8pm, RMB180 presale, RMB220 door. Yugong Yishan with supporting band The Twenties. See event listing, buy tickets.
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