The Cribs
Album: In the Belly of the Brazen Bull
Label: Wichita
Tracks: 14
Website: http://www.thecribs.com

Anyone who decided The Cribs' alliance with Johnny Marr on their last album Ignore The Ignorant, was more about him than them had better think again. As if any were needed, On the Belly of the Brazen Bull is laced with more than enough melodic finesse to be certain Wakefield's finest were engaged a union of equals with the guitar genius.

Mercifully, it omits the misguided inter-album single Housewife, a hollow electro cul-de-sac, and instead mines the rich vein of hook-laden, anthemic guitar pop that Marr was able to accentuate so memorably. Tracks like Come On Be A No-One, Glitters Like Gold, Chi-Town and Pure O will have the front dozen rows pogo-ing with rare abandon, Stalagmites is even rougher with its intention and direction, Like A Gift Giver invokes the unlikely spirit of The Beach Boys, while even quieter moments - mainly the confessional I Should Have Helped - give the Jarmans somewhere to rest their more vulnerable leanings.

The production credits include Steve Albini and David Fridmann, but there's precious little evidence of either's sonic signature. Instead, In the Belly of the Brazen Bull sounds like The Cribs - and you can't say fairer than that.

Nick Churchill
www.thegranvillechambers.co.uk