''Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever'' is the third studio album by English

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band

The Cribs The Cribs are a British indie rock band originally from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, that formed in 2001. The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The Smiths guit ...

. It was released on 21 May 2007 through

Wichita Recordings Wichita Recordings is an independent record label located in London, founded in 2000 by Mark Bowen and Dick Green. Its most notable signees include Bloc Party, The Cribs, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, Yeah Yeah Ye ...

in the UK and

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

in the U.S. Critically acclaimed, the album propelled the band into a greater audience, reaching number thirteen on the UK

Album Charts A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

, number nine on the annual 'Albums of the Year' by influential UK music magazine ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' and various other end-of-year lists. The album's lead single, "

Men's Needs "Men's Needs" was released in May 2007 as the first single taken from the third studio album by British indie rock band The Cribs. The song provided listeners with new material for the first time since December 2005, and later found release on thi ...

", also reached number three in the same ''NME'' chart.

Background and recording

At the conclusion of '' The New Fellas'' campaign, the Cribs signed a major label deal with

in North America, retaining

in the UK and Ireland. Recording for the album began in autumn 2006 with

Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria, (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. Fr ...

lead vocalist

Alex Kapranos Alexander Paul Kapranos Huntley (born 20 March 1972) is a Scottish musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and author. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist of Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand. He has also been a part of the ...

as producer at the Warehouse Studio,

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. With the majority of the album recorded, the band undertook a run of small club dates to preview the new songs, captured on the accompanying ''Leave too Neat'' documentary. Further sessions took place at Avatar,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in spring 2007, producing "Be Safe", a collaboration with

Lee Ranaldo Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, writer, visual artist and record producer, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth (guitar and vocals). In 2004, ''Rolling ...

of Sonic Youth, and "Shoot the Poets", which closes the record. David Corcos engineered the sessions, whereas Andy Wallace mixed the record, with all the songs receiving mastering treatment at Alchemy,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, from John Davis.

Composition

Rob Crane designed the cover and inlay artwork with the photograph originally being taken by

Bert Hardy Albert William Thomas Hardy (19 May 1913 – 3 July 1995) was an English documentary and press photographer known for his work published in the '' Picture Post'' magazine between 1941 and 1957. Life and work Born in Blackfriars, Bert Hardy ros ...

, with Bob Taylor photographing the Belle Vue stadium shot and

Janette Beckman Janette Beckman is a British documentary photographer who currently lives in New York City. Beckman describes herself as a documentary photographer. While she produces a lot of work on location (such as the cover of The Police album '' Zenyatt ...

taking the couch shot. Gary plays bass and provides vocals, Ross sticks to drums and Ryan takes guitar and vocal duties.

takes on lead vocals for "Be Safe".

Singles

The album produced four singles: "

" preceded on 14 May 2007, with " Moving Pictures" following on 30 July. The double a-side "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant?"/"Our Bovine Public" introduced a new song recorded shortly after the album sessions finished on 15 October, and " I'm a Realist" closed the run on 25 February 2008.

Reissue

On July 29, 2022, The Cribs released reissues of their first three albums, the main reason for which was because the albums' vinyl editions had been out of print for some time. After regaining the rights and master tapes for the albums through the legal battle that caused the band's inactivity several years prior, they spent 2021 sifting through their archives for bonus material to include on the reissues. All three reissued albums entered the Top Ten of the midweek UK Albums Chart.

Background and recording

Composition

Singles

Reissue

Accolades

Track listing

Charts

References

External links