The Cribs - "Arigato Cockers" (LP Review)

"Arigato Cockers" is a 2006 Japanese-only EP from The Cribs. It is essentially the non-LP single "You're Gonna Lose Us" with several B-sides collected from earlier singles. Yes, my obsession with this band has reached the point where I'm buying imports and singles just to be a completist.

It's been nearly two years since I first heard them and I still don't know why they are not more popular than they are. I'm doing my part; they're in heavy rotation in my cd player & iPod and I talk about them incessantly to anyone that will listen. While they're not exactly unknown, I don't understand why bands like Coldplay (y-a-w-n) become huge and The Cribs have not. Or at least not yet.

So while we await release of new material from the Johnny Marr version of The Cribs, I'm forced to review a collection of B-sides, demos, covers, outtakes, etc. "You're Gonna Lose Us" is an excellent song, deserving of A-side single status. Recorded in 2005, it sounds like it was recorded (or at least written) for The New Fellas sessions (although the producer, engineer, etc. information according to Discogs doesn't support this theory). This song alone is worth the price of the EP.

"Saturday Night Facts of Life" is a cover of a Comet Gain song (the original can be found at Rhapsody). The excellent "Advice From a Roving Artist" also features Comet Gain's bassist, Jon Slade; it sounds similar to (even better than?) "Be Safe" from "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever". The other tracks ("It Happened So Fast", "Feelin' It!", "To Jackson") would be great songs for nearly any band other than The Cribs. But in The Crib's canon, they're merely middle of the road songs.

Standout tracks: You're Gonna Lose Us, Advice From a Roving Artist, Saturday Night Facts of Life.

Skip 'em tracks: None.

Final score: 7/10. That's a little bit unfair since this really isn't an LP; it's an EP that is really a single plus a grab bag of B-sides, but the score reflects that "Arigato Cockers" is not where casual fans of the band should begin. If you treat it as just a single + 5 bonus tracks then it rates much higher.

Final score: 8/10. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I wrote it, but I have to revise my earlier rating. The itunes play counts don't lie: this is a really good EP.