Blending quintessentially British influences like the Beatles, Sex Pistols, and the Smiths with American indie rock like Beat Happening and Bobby Conn, Yorkshire, England's the Cribs feature three brothers: vocalist/guitarist Ryan Jarman, bassist/vocalist Gary, and drummer Ross. The trio began playing together at an early age, debuting at a family party in the late '80s when twins Gary and Ryan were nine years old and Ross was just five. After officially forming in 2001, the Cribs got to play with both Beat Happening's Calvin Johnson and Conn, who invited them to record with him in his Chicago studio. The Cribs released three singles, Another Number, What About Me, and You Were Always the One, before signing to Wichita Records in late 2003. The band spent 2004 readying its self-titled debut album, which was recorded in London's Toerag Studios; touring with the Datsuns; and performing at that year's CMJ Festival. Late that year they began working on their second album with Orange Juice's Edwyn Collins as producer.nn The Cribs was released in the U.S. in early 2005. Later in the year, the band issued its second album, The New Fellas. Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever, which boasted production by Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos, arrived in 2007. That same year, Gary met Johnny Marr, an admitted fan of the band. They began collaborating on some songs, with Marr joining the band on-stage throughout the 2008 NME awards tour. By August 2008, Marr had officially joined the band, and the resulting album, Ignore the Ignorant, arrived late in 2009. In April of 2011, Marr announced he was quitting the group to work on solo material. Back to their original trio lineup, the Jarmans recorded songs at Dave Fridmann's upstate New York Tarbox Studios; at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio in Chicago; and at London's Abbey Road Studios. The results, the raw but tuneful In the Belly of the Brazen Bull, arrived in May 2012. Early in 2013, the compilation Payola arrived, which collected songs from the early period of their career that spanned 2002-2012.nn In 2014, the Cribs began writing sessions in Portland, Oregon before heading to New York's Magic Shop studio with producer Ric Ocasek to work on their sixth album, 2015's For All My Sisters. After the Cribs finished their tour for that album, they reunited with Albini in November 2016 to expand on a batch of songs recorded with him during the Brazen Bull sessions; what started as an EP became 2017's raw full-length 24-7 Rockstar Shit, a set that harked back to the band's early days. ~ Heather Phares