{"id":367524,"date":"2026-01-13T15:08:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:08:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/367524\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T15:08:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:08:19","slug":"the-cribs-selling-a-vibe-album-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/367524\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cribs – ‘Selling A Vibe’ album review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ Album Cover)<\/p>\n

Fri 9 January 2026 10:19, UK <\/p>\n

The Cribs – ‘Selling A Vibe’<\/p>\n

Time and music are inextricably linked. Whether it\u2019s assessing music in the present day and how it engages with culture, or viewing something in the comfort of the rear mirror, emblematic of whatever era we\u2019ve coined a name for. But, on The Cribs\u2019<\/a> ninth album Selling A Vibe, they\u2019ve made a case for their music to step out of those constructs, and to be viewed with a sense of timelessness.<\/p>\n

The Skinny: This is a band who have been a constant in the British music scene since the heady days of the indie 2000s. Sure, back then they could have been bundled in with the swathe of now titled, indie sleaze music, but now in 2025, they\u2019re just The Cribs, stalwarts of indie music<\/a> that has bounced between punk and pop, based on where the band are in their lives.<\/p>\n

On Selling A Vibe, it landed in a place of knowing comfort that allows a more unashamed pop sentiment to ring through. \u201cPop music is fundamentally about the beat, and it\u2019s about the bassline and the riff, like it\u2019s the core ingredients,\u201d bassist Gary Jarman said in the Far Out cover story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cBecause you can have a great pop song and it\u2019s just a repetitive beat with a repetitive baseline and repetitive riff. It doesn\u2019t hide behind anything. It\u2019s just like, this is the hook. This is what we want you to focus on. And that can also be a lyrical hook.\u201d<\/p>\n

That unashamed approach can be found on the album\u2019s angsty lead single, \u2018Summer Seizures\u2019, which boasts a catchy vocal hook on top of its sun-kissed guitar melodies, while the title track itself leans further into that. The West Coast American sunshine that dripped all over the recording sessions for this record can be found on that track, led by Ryan Jarman\u2019s vocal takes, which at times float into Beach Boys realms. <\/p>\n

But it\u2019s an album of dichotomy. The poppier, upbeat melodies are at times paired with deeply introspective lyrics that expose some darker feelings within the band, and Ryan Jarman in particular. \u2018Looking For The Wrong Guy\u2019 is a painstaking ballad that he admitted to Far Out was scary, given how \u201con the nose it was\u201d. But the sort of vulnerability that might not have been available in years gone by only benefits the music.<\/p>\n

Sonically, it doesn\u2019t break any ground for the band, though. There is a lyrical and performative change in the record that evidently sees The Cribs turning a corner in their career and driving off into something of a sunset, buoyed by an acceptance of their poppier tropes. But the cobwebs of frenetic indie that made the bedrock of their early career still linger in every song, and in listening to that, there lies a faint desire for something different, more evolved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Verdict: As the band rightly muse on their last single for the album, things quite simply are never the same. There is a necessary change that must take place in music, but nevertheless, The Cribs are holding on to something that was once there with the strong grip of a true familial bond.<\/p>\n

Standout track: \u2018Brothers Won\u2019t Break\u2019<\/p>\n

Release Date: January 9th, 2025 | Producer: Patrick Wimberly | Label: PIAS Recordings<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n

The Far Out New Music Newsletter<\/p>\n

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Straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credits: Far Out \/ Album Cover) Fri 9 January 2026 10:19, UK The Cribs – ‘Selling A Vibe’…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[112651,96,128,16466,140636,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-367524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-album-review","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-music","tag-the-cribs","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}