The Cribs- Ignore The Ignorant

After months of rumour and various live appearances Johnny Marr finally makes his debut as a fully fledged Crib on the bands fourth album. His introduction into the Wakefield trio’s inner circle sees the band adopt a more fleshed out sound whilst still retaining their jagged edge. Fans of Marr’s jangly guitars will be happy to hear the trademark sounds ring out at various intervals such as ‘We Share The Same Skies’ however ‘Ignore The Ignorant’ is not an album hijacked by a legend. Such is the Jarman brothers power and style that even amongst the company of an indie icon they still assert their scruffy anthems accordingly. ‘Hari Kari’ and ‘We Were Aborted’ are as good as the material on ‘The New Fellas’, still the finest Cribs record to date.

Any criticism of ‘Ignore The Ignorant would come from the audible strain on bassist Gary Jarman’s voice and the way in which the album slopes in quality towards the end, unsurprisingly these two issues are often linked. It's not that his voice is shot but the bass wielding Jarman is clearly suffering from years of touring and recording and as a result the likes of 'Last Years Snow' and 'Emasculate Me' make for a grating listen. What this does however is project brother Ryan as the star of the band, his vocal interjections are the highlights of 'Ignore The Ignorant' whilst his guitar playing more than holds up against the ominously talented Marr.

The Cribs are progressing at a steady if unspectacular rate and 'Ignore The Ignorant' is another stepping stone towards the domination they have always hinted at. The biggest compliment you could pay the band and this record is that despite bringing in a world famous figure to play guitar the results are still 100% Wakefield.

7/10

The Cribs- Ignore The Ignorant