bitter fingers

The Cribs – Cheat On Me (Live at BBC Radio 1) (Youtube)

I can’t have been the only one somewhat surprised when Johnny Marr, formerly of The Smiths and one of my favourite guitarists not only started playing with The Cribs, but joined Wakefield’s finest as a permanent member. He appears on their upcoming album Ignore the Ignorant and his deft touch is evident on the leading single, Cheat On Me.

For whatever reason, The Cribs’ music hasn’t always been at the centre of whatever attention was throw their way, be it rivalries with The Pigeon Detectives, their politics or even proclaiming that indie bands were a bigger problem than global warming. Regardless, I’ve always felt their music was the natural progression from the Libertines movement of the early 2000s, but it’s taken some time for them to mature into a band with music mature enough to support the rest of their infamy.

Cheat On  Me, then. It’s a slow burner, but builds nicely with an indie chorus to rival anything Pete Doherty might be producing these days. The album has more of these – not as immediately poppy as breakout hit Hey Scenesters!, but infinitely more fulfilling. It remains to be seen whether they’ll let music take centre stage form now on, though.