The Cribs Satisfy Men's Needs with Alex Kapranos, Nardwuar And Lee Ranaldo

05/23/07 6:30pm

by Nicole Kai (CHARTattack)

U.K. sibling outfit The Cribs spent time in Vancouver recently recording their third album, Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever, with Alex Kapranos at the studio controls. The Franz Ferdinand frontman liked what he heard of The Cribs' new material during soundchecks while his band toured with them, and told the three Yorkshire brothers that he'd be interested in producing their record.

"We got on really well on tour and we found we have a lot in common," says drummer Ross Jarman. "His old band used to move in the same kind of circle as our band, so we found we knew a lot of the same things and had a lot of the same reference points in bands and stuff."

The brothers said Kapranos' familiarity with the band's sound contributed to them making their best album yet, as it combines their raw live elements with spotless studio production.

"We thought that if you wanted 'live' to get across, you had to record it live, but the irony is that we spent so much more time recording this record than the other two, and [Kapranos] translated the live energy on to this record," says bassist Gary Jarman.

Another well-known character who helped with the recording process was Canada's favourite human serviette, Nardwuar, who dished out hospitality during the five weeks that The Cribs spent in Vancouver.

"He looked after us, he knows all the history -- and he invited us to the Mint Records Christmas party," says Ross, referring to a much-talked-about event that featured an impromptu recital of "Take Me Out" by Kapranos and The Cribs.

Aside from complaining of the arm-twisting Nardwuar had to inflict to bring them on stage that night, The Cribs had nothing but praise for their lovably bonkers host.

"He's a really thoughtful guy, and his knowledge of punk rock is insane," says Gary.

"Personality-wise, he's exactly like what he's like on TV," adds Ross. "He's not an actor. He wears the same shirt every time."

While making the album, The Cribs also befriended Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, who opens a cut called "Be Safe" with some heavy spoken-word poetry.

"We sent him the track — a rough recording — and I also liked some of his writings, and he loved it and he was really flattered that we wanted him to do it," explains Gary. "So we booked a session in New York and he brought out a bunch of stuff like his books and these writings that he'd done, and we talked about what we wanted to do and the next day we kind of improvised.

"We were definitely happy with the way it came out. It's one of our most favourite on the record."