'We just started playing together for fun,' Cribs bassist/ vocalist Gary Jarman (left) says when asked how former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr came to join the indie-rock group. 'But we were pretty prolific and when that happens you don't want to take your foot off the gas at all.'
The addition of guitarist Johnny Marr to an up-and-coming English indie band might seem like the creative maneuverings of sales-hungry record execs.
But according to Cribs bassist and co-frontman, Gary Jarman, the legendary Smiths axeman decided to join the three-piece (currently his second besides Modest Mouse) after declaring himself an unabashed fan of the meaty Britpop they displayed on 2005's "The New Fellas."
"It was as innocent as that," Jarman says down the line from his Portland home. "I guess a lot of people think these things are [orchestrated] by band managers or labels, but it really wasn't like that.
"We always resisted the idea of adding a fourth person because that meant one of us would have to go in the middle and no one wants to do that," he laughs. "We're too shy and humble."
Also based in Portland, Marr befriended Gary and brothers Ryan (guitars) and Ross (drums) following Modest Mouse's 2007 effort "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank."
The friendship, which was forged by hanging out almost daily, helped the Jarman brothers start to envision bigger, more intricate melodies for their follow-up, the recently released "Ignore the Ignorant."
"I loved being a three-piece, but it was a bit one dimensional because we had to try and generate powerful sounds between three people," he says. "Adding Johnny freed my brother and I to concentrate more on singing and the melodies."
Extended jam sessions in Marr's home let the band unite pop ambitions forged on the Alex Kapranos-produced "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever" (2007) with the bounce rock that has made them a radio mainstay in their native England.
Marr, who co-wrote all the songs with the Jarman clan, injects his unmistakable guitar between Gary and Ryan's melodic vocals, but doesn't overshadow Morrissey-like lyrics that take aim at a celebrity obsessed culture ("Victims of Mass Production") and the rise of the British right wing ("Ignore the Ignorant").
"After the success of our first couple of records, people had sort of pegged us as this super confident band, but that was never the case," says Jarman. "Just having Johnny as a fan was a huge thing because we were such big fans of the Smiths; they were a big influence and Johnny's playing was a big influence on my brother.
"That was a big enough deal anyway because we never expected anyone to ever care about our band in the first place."
And while the addition of Marr allowed Gary and Ryan to try their hand at arena singalongs ("We Were Aborted," "We Share the Same Skies," "Hari Kari"), the injection of the legendary guitarist forced the brothers realize their songs have to look cool on paper.
"The songs should look good written down," Gary recalls Marr saying. "And I agree. That might sound superficial, but I do honestly think that, just like a book, if you have a song with a boring title you won't be that compelled to listen."
