Brothers Gary, Ryan and Ross Jarman are no strangers to mixing a pop sensibility with garage rock, grunge and indie. It’s what earned The Cribs such a dedicated fanbase in the early noughties, and though they’ve been retrospectively pigeonholed into indie-sleaze, they have always encompassed so much more. ‘Selling A Vibe’ is no exception.
There are nods to the pop and rock of the ‘60s on the title track and Distractions — which asserts “in these days of excess, the shortest stories are the sweetest” — and ‘70s on closer Brothers Won’t Break, where gang vocals convey the camaraderie and musical cohesion the siblings have managed to maintain despite living apart in New York (Ryan), Portland (Gary) and Wakefield (Ross).
A layer of ‘80s jangle pop seeps through on Never The Same, a danceable earworm complete with brief grungey interlude that was originally written for former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson, while nostalgia drips from Summer Seizures.
Their turn-of-the-millennium indie-rock heritage can be heard throughout, too, with the biggest nods coming on A Point Too Hard To Make and If Our Paths Never Crossed — be prepared for the chorus to live rent free in your head for the rest of the day.
But at no point do they sound like they’re trying too hard. The band are able to simultaneously honour their influences and own discography while delivering expertly-crafted melodies that add newfangled nuance. They’ll utilise their full arsenal to have you dancing along, then strip things back and have you reaching for the tissues on heartfelt tracks such as Looking For The Wrong Guy, which delves into “unhealthiness” that Ryan has had to forgo. That’s where the magic of The Cribs lies: their understated yet vast repertoire of sounds.
Some credit must also be given to the record’s producer, Patrick Wimberly, a former member of Chairlift and a collaborator with MGMT, Solange and others. At the band’s request, he took the reins and utilised contemporary pop recording techniques to capture the record, in what was a first for the group.
Like a dive bar that’s had a deep clean, the band is elementally the same on ‘Selling A Vibe’, though the rough edges have been smoothed out and tuneful vocals have replaced the intentionally atonal, gritty cries that previously gave them a sense of abandonment. For long-time listeners, their omission might represent the only misstep on a record that otherwise finds the brothers Jarman firing on all cylinders.
The Cribs Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue January 13 2026 - OXFORD O2 Academy2 Oxford
Wed March 18 2026 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Boiler Shop
Fri March 20 2026 - SHEFFIELD Foundry
Sat March 21 2026 - MANCHESTER Albert Hall
Sun March 22 2026 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute
Tue March 24 2026 - NOTTINGHAM Rock City
Wed March 25 2026 - CARDIFF Tramshed
Fri March 27 2026 - BRIGHTON Concorde 2
Sat March 28 2026 - BRIGHTON Concorde 2
Sat July 11 2026 - LEEDS Millennium Square
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