ALBUM REVIEW – The Cribs – Night Network

Sonic Blew/PIAS

Released: 13.11.20

Opening track Goodbye on this – the Jarmans’ eighth – long-player is aimed at their former label for keeping them silent. A cathartic Beach Boys-esque ballad, it exorcises the demons from the closet, not with a raging fist, but with a polite middle finger.

And from then on, The Cribs do what The Cribs do best. Running Into You is chock full of instant hooks, lush melodies and high octane positivity. The band are making up for lost time and this is the least 2020-influenced record you’ll hear this year. It almost takes us back to 2004, as the brothers sing, “Still the same kids, screaming in suburbia…” They may be continents apart, but they’ve rarely sounded so good together.