The Cribs were rocking too hard to put me to sleep
Words: Tre Harris
Photos: Images by Ellis
★★★★☆
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21 years after leaving the crib of their musical infancy, The Cribs are still proving that there is room for innovation in indie. Going into this almost largely unaware of The Cribs work. I was mostly expecting another indie landfill slog of a gig (the only doubt in my mind placed by a couple very vocal fans of theirs which I’m friends with). However, I was left very pleasantly surprised by the sheer variety of sounds I heard tonight. From not only the stars on the mobile, but also the support act, Courting, who are one of the most interesting newish indie bands I’ve seen in a while.
Photo: Images by Ellis
Support act, Courting, came out swinging with their unique blend of television style harmonised guitar and garage rock sensibility. The sound intertwined surprisingly seamlessly with driving dance punk grooves, while still keeping their own indie rock inflection. This created quite an original sound. At times this delved into pop punk with the vocal delivery and electronic using synths and a drummer that might as well be programmed.
Courting wasted no time with their crowd work, hyping up a Cribs hungry crowd to the best of their ability with banter that didn’t come off as disingenuous or faked. They had a stage presence that showed that they loved what they were doing, as well as who they were doing it with; always nice to see in a band.
My only criticism with their otherwise fantastic set was that some of their songs tend to merge in my mind and begin to feel rather “same-ey”. Their stand out tracks on the set were the ones that experimented with interesting changes and had more of a focus on that proto-punk guitar style, rather than their more chord driven songs. Unfortunately there's only so much you can do with major and minor.
After our divorce with Courting, I took a moment to lose my thoughts and daydream a bit; a dream I was quickly ripped from by the explosive entrance of The Cribs to the stage.
Photo: Images by Ellis
If you look up “wasted no time” in the dictionary, you’d get the picture from the second they played the first note of their set. As quickly as they were on, they had exploded into their innovative dual-voice led signature indie sound that they first became known for. A sound that I was more familiar with, being a massive fan of 2000s indie rock, and having those aforementioned Cribs fan friends put me onto their more popular tracks. But they had far more down their bib than that.
From noise rock soundscapes, (even the Thurston-est of Moores would be jealous of), to their raw, raucous 90s inspired indie flavours, while still keeping that classic British sound. I can see why they would have stood out in a time dominated by people who worshipped Richard Hell and Lou Reed. How they continue to stand out with their youthful songwriting and, at times, quite heavy songs with the kinds of guitar tones that some chase their whole lives. Never in a million years would I put my baby in their crib, but only out of fear they’d grow up far cooler than me.
While there were slight mistakes in playing, it only added to the sleazy attitude and made everything feel more real. Between getting mashed in the mosh and honestly being a bit starstruck, the imperfections acted as a perfect grounding wire. They kept me firmly in between being lost in the music, and getting swept by the energy and rebelliousness that only a few mistakes and wrong notes can portray.
To even suggest that wrong notes exist to these gentlemen almost feels redundant, as, like the great mistake makers, their stage presence and sheer confidence masked anything sloppy; pushing it more as a stylistic choice than bad musicianship. Few bands I've seen have gotten a crowd so engaged in the moment, or a feeling, rather than the idea. So much so that I hardly saw any phones recording from where I was. Although it is entirely possible I was simply having too much fun to care.
I ended up leaving completely enamoured by everything that (relatively) little building somehow managed to hold. Courted by Courting, rocked awake by The Cribs, and perhaps most importantly for a musician like me, I left inspired. Eager to delve further into, not only their past discography, but also my musical future and how I'll carve my sound. Thoughts evoked only by the greats.