Album Review: The Cribs - ‘Night Network’
‘Night Network’ is the eighth studio album from Wakefield’s finest, The Cribs.
Amidst a turmoil of events, 'Night Network’, the eighth studio album from The Cribs, proves the Jarman brothers have rightfully taken back control.
After announcing their awaited comeback, The Cribs took to Twitter to tell fans they had been ‘seriously questioning [their] future as a band’. A statement made in reference to legal issues with their management, which prevented the Wakefield trio from playing live and recording or releasing new music for the best part of 2 years. Eight albums in, ‘Night Network’ provides a new lease of life for The Cribs, modestly affirming their worthy status as one of the UKs best bands. Recorded over a year ago at Foo Fighters’ Studio 606 in Los Angeles, ‘Night Network’ not only feels like the saviour of 2020, but The Cribs returning to the spotlight in their very best form.
Album opener ‘Goodbye’ well and truly screams farewell to the ordeal, putting it behind them and moving on as a band, before plummeting into lively comeback single ‘Running Into You’, which is just a taste of what we’ve been missing. The rest of the album feels like a new era for The Cribs, ‘Night Network’ is a finely tuned selection of hits that manifests a certain level of maturity, but still evidences the humble confidence that we know the band for.
Stand out tracks include ‘Screaming in Suburbia’, ‘Deep Infatuation’, ‘She’s My Style’ and ‘The Weather Speaks Your Name’, but the album is filled with wall-to-wall timeless Cribs classics, which flow so perfectly into the next, leaving no room for skipping. When live shows are eventually safe to return, these songs will no doubt go down a treat alongside The Cribs immense back catalogue.
Now living 5000 miles away from each other, the Jarman brothers have never forgotten their roots, evident in lyrics and their Yorkshire accents, which have remained distinctive in vocals. Regardless of the distance, The Cribs have had a productive time in lockdown. Providing entertaining content for fans, including album playbacks, a live performance of ‘Be Safe’, the announcement of a Christmas song and even a fan hotline that came as part of the ‘Night Network’ campaign.
As if we didn’t already miss gigs enough, ‘Night Network’ has us craving live music. When The Cribs can get back to playing shows, they promise to be better than ever and I, for one, cannot wait.
Words by Abbie Jennings