Brit Music Scene

The Cribs - Moving Pictures | Single & Video Review

by Dave Parrack on August 17th, 2007

Carrying on the trend for reviewing singles about 2 weeks late I’m afraid. I will catch up honest, it’s just bad time management that’s all! Here we have The Cribs new single called ‘Moving Pictures’ which was released on July 30th in the UK.

I’m a big fan of The Cribs, well at least their music that is, some of their attitude and controversial rantings just annoy the hell out of me. I had enough of that kind of bitching during the Britpop era of British music, when Oasis claimed everyone else was crap apart from them. They were the biggest band in the world at the time though, so at least had some justification. The Cribs are still on their way up however, and have yet to reach the top of their career arc.

This song is very much in keeping with The Cribs usual style of single, with punk drums and noisy guitars being layered under both singing brothers throaty vocals. If you don’t know much about The Cribs or have never heard of them, they are all brothers, with twins Ryan and Gary Jarman joined by younger brother and drummer Ross. Take a look at the video, the similarity is pretty plain to see.

The song is basically about fame, and people who dream of getting famous. There also seems to be elements of an argument or the end of a relationship in there, as the lyrics “Guarded thoughts, firing off, parting shots, missing lots” seems to imply. On one of the lyrics sites I frequent, someone also mentioned John F Kennedy and his assassination as being an inspiration behind the song, which does make sense to a certain degree.

The video is a mix of a live performance in what looks like a garage or lock up, with old film tricks such as the reel showing, and imperfections. It’s not the most exciting Cribs video I’ve ever seen, and the one for last single ‘Men’s Needs’ was much better. It’s still good though, and works for the song.

I’ve seen The Cribs live twice, once supporting Maximo Park and Kaiser Chiefs on an NME tour, and once at their own gig. Both times, they were a sight to behold, and not all of it good. The twins seemed to be pissed before even setting foot on stage at their own gig, and continued to drink throughout. This lead to Ryan playing the guitar with a half empty can of lager at one point, which is a bit of a spin on Jimi Hendrix playing with his teeth I suppose.

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POSTED IN: Alternative, Cribs, Indie, Reviews, Singles, Videos