The New Fellas

Spite is an underrated motivational tool. Hell, Elvis Costello built the first decade of his career on it. And the Cribs, a very British trio in the tradition of the Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs, and Bloc Party, has built a hell of a second album around it. The New Fellas is the sound of three dudes who drink way too much unloading a chip the size of a Guinness barrel off their collective shoulder. If they’re not spitting bile and barbed riffs at the cooler-than-thou kids who won’t accept them on “Hey Scenesters” and the buoyant, “I’m Alright Me,” they’re twisting the knife into the back of an old girlfriend on the swinging, “It Was Only Love.” It’s all horribly juvenile and undignified, but it sounds fucking great. Besides, if you’re not spending your 20s drinking too much and spouting off things you’ll one day regret, you’re doing something wrong.