Sunday November 22, 05:43 PM

The Cribs welcomes Johnny Marr to the fold

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Since the release of their third album, 2007's "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever," the Cribs have built a fervent U.K following. Now the band hopes to mirror that fervour in the United States.

Paving the way is its second Warner Bros. album, "Ignore the Ignorant," released stateside November 10. It's the group's first album with new member Johnny Marr -- co-founder of '80s group the Smiths, a member of '90s duo Electronic and guitarist for Modest Mouse.

"Ignore the Ignorant" became the Cribs' highest-charting album in the United Kingdom, reaching No. 8 on the Official Charts Co. tally. To date, the Wakefield, Yorkshire, band has scored seven U.K. top 40 singles.

The addition of Marr in summer 2008 "brings out a different side of us," said Cribs guitarist/vocalist Ryan Jarman, who co-founded the band with his brothers Gary (bass) and Ross (drums). "There was a lot more texture that we wanted to bring out rather than just full-on punk-rock songs. This record has a lot more subtleties; having a second guitar player has complemented what we were doing and has definitely helped us fully realise certain songs we've wanted to do."

The Cribs recorded "Ignore the Ignorant" live at Seedy Underbelly studios in Los Angeles with British producer Nick Launay (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire). Marr said Launay "believed the band's strength was in the live recording." Jarman adds, "We just plugged in and played. That's the way we like it."

Having completed some European dates with Franz Ferdinand, the band will kick off its U.K. headlining tour December 2 at Birmingham Academy, with dates including a December 12 show at London's 5,000-capacity Brixton Academy. Then it's back to the States in mid-January to launch the U.S. leg of the tour.

"You never know how things are going to translate in America," Jarman said the day after the group's November 12appearance on David Letterman's show. "But last night just felt really good. There was a lot of energy in the room."

(Editing by SheriLinden at Reuters)

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