The Cribs, with support from Menace Beach, played the Rescue Rooms
Back in Nottingham for the first time since 2012, The Cribs open an 8-date tour across the UK with Leeds 5-piece Menace Beach in supprt. Playing their first gig in two years, the Wakefield trio played an 18 song set, packed full of new songs from their upcoming 6th studio album For All My Sisters provoking an exultant response from the crowd.
Menace Beach open with Teenage Jesus, a fuzzy sun-soaked track to get the crowd going, followed up with the dreamy alt-rock of Drop Outs, showcasing the one-two punch of lead singers Liza and Ryan - one translating into the other and merging through the punky noise rock which underpins the set.
Sounding as if they crashed through in the wave of the 90’s alternative scene with the likes of the Breeders, Throwing Muses and aspects of Sonic Youth’s hazy tone, this modernized take on this era retains the murky drones while incorporating more recent ringing synths to give it a fresh ambience and atmosphere. The band play songs from their latest record Ratworld including Elastic, Tennis Court and finished up on Lowtalkin’.
Walking on to shouts from the audience of “Wakefield” and “Jarman”, the Yorkshire 3-piece returned to Rescue Rooms after almost 10 years, following on from a gig with Kaiser Chiefs and Hard-Fi back in 2005. Kicking-off with the instant classic An Ivory Hand, it was evident this set would be scattered with new tunes just as they had done when touring for their previous album In the Belly of the Brazen Bull. Six other new songs followed also making their live debut, and guitarist Ryan Jarman told the crowd “I know you don’t these new tunes, but we know you’ll act like you do cause you’re Cribs fans”. Sure enough every song was met with the explosive feedback, which is conventional at any Cribs gig.
Not forgotten were the classics from the previous albums – even What About Me and Another Number from their self-titled debut made it onto the setlist, along with Mirror Kissers, Men’s Needs and the more recent Chi-Town. Bassist Ross seemed to take a more prominent role with vocals this time, but Ryan certainly encouraged plenty of crowd participation.
Finishing up a long set with new song Pink Snow, the night was concluded with restless anticipation for the new record, set to be released on 23 March. One thing was clear: The Cribs’ lo-fi punk turned noise pop shows no trace of deterioration.
The Cribs and Menace Beach played the Rescue Rooms on Wednesday 11 February 2015.
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