The Cribs

Fronted by twins Ryan and Gary Jarman and backed by their brother Ross on the drums, The Cribs roared out of Wakefield in the early 2000s in a hail of nihilistic, rabid, DIY, indie rock thunder. Generating a fevered following and a fearsome reputation for crowd diving, stage invading, full throttle live shows, their early albums The Cribs (2004) and The New Fellas (2005) sought to capture that messy, malevolent, electric energy. It was the slightly more polished third album Mens Needs, Womens Needs, Whatever (2007), produced by Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos, that proved a commercial and critical breakthrough, reaching Number 13 in the UK charts while the storming lead single Mens Needs was named as third best song of the year by the NME. Legendary guitarist Johnny Marr (The Smiths, Electronic, Modest Mouse) joined the band for fourth album Ignore The Ignorant (2009), and Ryan found himself as an unlikely tabloid star when he started a relationship with pop starlet Kate Nash. Despite bigger venues and increased media interest, at heart The Cribs still purvey the spirit of punk and intensity of grunge, and capture the sweaty, snarling, pogo-ing of a small town rock'n'roll band.