The Cribs

When most bands expand from a trio to a quartet, it entails hiring a buddy or a two-bit session bass player, but Brit-rock act The Cribs knows how to swing for the fences: The Jarman brothers broke their tight family bond to accept legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. As a result, the band’s first album with Marr in the lineup 2009’s, Ignore The Ignorant, shimmers with jangly guitar riffs and harmonics rather than the band’s usual rapidly stabbing staccatos. Marr took off in 2011, leaving the Jarmans to their own devices for their latest, this year’s largely alliterative In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull. But it did see them calling in some more big name ringer help, this time in super-producer Steve Albini.

Updated 03/28/2012