The new album? Layered, rock-y.. too much, for me. Too dense. Too complex.

But a legend is a legend, so we popped along to the Juice Bar at the Windsor in Parnell to get a blast of the new Cribs experience, to see if it all made more sense.

A false start: we were driven from the venue by the execrable yowling of Bandicoot. Yup, I know Pearl is Don McGlashan’s kid. I know they’re young. It’s OK to be arch and fey and chaotic. But learn how to play first, then un-learn it. I got the impression they’d just met each other and their instruments. Not good.

A quick sparkling burst of Collapsing Cities, and then on to the main event, hampered by stuffy sound (please god I should go to a gig in Auckland with a decent PA.. one day it may happen but in the meantime, Kiwi soundmen, sharpen up your act or I’ll be pushing you off the mixing desk and doing it myself). The Cribs were fiery and committed, and they put everything into it, and Ryan’s mic stand gets ever shorter.. but the old songs came over by far the best, even ‘Hey, Scenesters’. And that was a shame, because I like the Jarmans and I want more great music from them.

But linking up with an ex-Smith is a detour down a one way street. Turn around, guys. More songs like this, please:

(#9 in a series of 10 albums that shaped my musical taste)

I’d just like to say to all you young folks that if you’re playing in a band and your raison d’être is complete indifference.. if you’re playing that card, “look at us, we’re chaotic and we don’t care about anything, least of all our fans”..

Don’t. Pack it in, think of something else. You couldn’t hope to do it better than The Jesus And Mary Chain, and if you wanted to try, you’d actually have to put some effort in. And of course you’re not supposed to care that much.

For Jim and William Reed, the blistering sound of distortion and feedback said everything they wanted to say. Rank amateur Bobby Gillespie behind the “drumkit”, slovenly vocals, murky bass, amplifier hiss.. an unholy racket.

Penetrating the murk, however, were proper pop songs. Echoes of Phil Spector. The classic sound of The Crystals, The Ronettes and The Beach Boys.

Played by lazy slackers.

Drowned in screeching sheets of white noise.

Lovely stuff. Twenty five years ago, I’d heard nothing like it.

I didn’t see The Jesus And Mary Chain live until much later. Less daunting a prospect.

P.S. Coming soon in the final part of The Sacred Days You Gave Me: 1989

OK, maybe The Beatles. But they never went to Iceland.

So don’t miss out: support your local cinema (”Hullo, is that the local cinema?” – “Well, it depends where you’re calling from”) and see these tales of.. my heroes. Then come back and tell me what I’m missing, you ‘orrible lot.

Great that Andy Serkis, well known in these here parts, of course, got the Ian Dury gig.

In recent years the Pirates sailed on, impressing old and new listeners alike with their high-powered brand of rhythm and blues. Appearances become more scarce as the gentlemen grew older, but a fair amount of the old fire and skill was always in evidence. Unfeasibly loud and forceful, for a bunch of old fellas!

In the last ten years or so, Mick had stints as a sideman with Van Morrison, Paul McCartney and Bryan Ferry.. plus his share of health problems, which have, sadly, now taken their toll.

And it IS sad, because the Pirates meant a lot to me and always will. I first saw them in that 70s renaissance (at Hudderfield Polytechnic, supported by a Cambridge new wave band called The Push, and a Pakistani escapologist!) and many times since then. An understated kind of guitar genius: Paul Burlison and Wilko Johnson rolled into one, more dextrous than either and do you know what? I never ever worked out how Mick Green did what he did.

I’m just happy I saw him do it. RIP, Mick.

After the jump, a Pirates gig review I wrote for Blues in Britain..

The Pirates – Dingwalls, Camden Lock, 17th February 2000

The burly figure of Mick Green hefts his Telecaster Custom and leans into the opening bars of ‘Peter Gunn’ and suddenly I’m 18 again. For those of us present at the second coming of THE original British rockers in the late 70’s, a chance to see them in fine form once more was too good to be missed. Frank Farley and Johnny Spence complete the classic line up: September’s last Pirates blast at the Grey Horse in Kingston was supposed to be the end, but here are our heroes back again, one more time, rocking as hard as they ever have.

Mick grins at Frank, cues in the old set-opener ‘Please Don’t Touch’, and immediately everyone in the room is bouncing up and down. All that’s missing is the illuminated galleon at the back of the stage and the pirate clothes! Johnny’s shifty second-hand car dealer attitude and solid bass playing light up the room; he’s singing loud and clear. Frank keeps the pace going; you just know he’s thinking ‘How many more times can we do this?’ but the Dingwalls crowd neither mind nor care, this is original British rock and roll heaven.

And all the old favourites just keep coming. An impossible breakneck pace on ‘Gibson Martin Fender’, a thumping ‘Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee’, a faithful version of ‘Going Back Home’. “Written with Wilko, is he here?” says Mick. ‘Do The Dog’ was done as a mid-set breather. “Johnny wants to do this one” says Mick, before the less-than-politically-correct lads-on-the-pull “Four To The Bar”. “This could be a bit iffy…” precedes a sturdy version of ‘Don’t Munchen It’. “Didn’t need a break 20 years ago” remarks Johnny as the Pirates go off for a half-time livener…..

Certain elements of the crowd have been baying for ‘Lonesome Train’ all night, and the Pirates kick off the second half with that delightful tune, and a reminiscence about their youthful days, listening to Johnny Burnette records that ex-merchant seaman Frank brought back from his travels. “Who’s actually seen Johnny Kidd on stage?” shouts Mick, answered in the affirmative by a guy who “looks about eighteen!”. Mick pockets his guitar pick and does his Paul Burlison impression on “Honey Hush”, followed with another favourite “Tear It Up”. The Pirates are chatty and so obviously at home, it’s lovely to see. It’s all becoming a bit of a blur, there’s a tear in my eye…..I know I heard fine versions of “I Can Tell” and “Sweet Love On My Mind” and “You Don’t Own Me” too.

All too soon our three heroes are drawing the set to a close, with a belting ‘Milk Cow Blues’ and the anthemic “All In It Together”, and of course a blazing “Johnny B. Goode” as the encore. There’s a genuine emotional connection between band and audience, the likes of which you just don’t see these days. Sure, Johnny forgets a few words, but the rhythm is so sound and solid and, well, just plain sweaty, and Mick is still the finest rhythm guitar player on the planet.

Was this the last ever Pirates gig? If they ever turn out again, beg, borrow or steal a ticket, you won’t regret it. The Pirates, a national treasure. To steal a quip from Pete Townshend, “Guys, don’t grow old gracefully, it wouldn’t suit you”.

Pirates photo: Yukiko Akagawa

Top Ten:
Super Furry Animals – Dark Days/Light Years
The Phantom Band –  Checkmate Savage
The Big Pink – A Brief History Of Love
The Drones – Havilah
Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications
Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
The XX – XX
Tinariwen – Imidiwan
Leader Cheetah – The Sunspot Letters
Bat For Lashes – Two Suns

Bubbling Under:
Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Primary Colours
Blue Roses – Blue Roses
Karen O And The Kids – Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack
Wilco – The Album

The Toppermost Of The Poppermost: Florence + The Machine – You’ve Got The Love (XX Remix)

The ‘Didn’t They Do Well’ Award For Old Folks In Rock: Manic Street Preachers – Journal For Plague Lovers

I Could Listen To This Song All Day: The Hazey Janes – Losing Speed

It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time: – Johnny Marr joins The Cribs

Check em all out, if you haven’t already. Here’s SFA..

** Except perhaps Australia. Where those 2008 albums originated. Ahem.

So I’m splitting my Best Of The Year review in two: the new music list will be out early in 2010, but here’s the vintage stuff I was happy to discover (and re-discover) in 2009.

I’ve already talked about The Jayhawks’ Music From The North Country anthology – unfortunately for my bank balance, there were many more re-issues of an equally good standard. Ah, well..

REM’s Reckoning -  25 years old this year, a serious contender for my top ten albums that influenced my musical taste (yep, I realise I have to complete that series of articles.. two to go), great to hear it again in pristine remastered glory.
The Feelies – Crazy Rhythms – skittery, geeky new wave from New Jersey that sounds just as otherworldly now as it did in 1980.
Radiohead’s mighty Kid A –  better than it was in 2000. One of the albums of the decade, though I wouldn’t have said that when I bought it originally. The ultimate grower.
Nirvana – Live At Reading – all the Nirvana you need. Definitive.
Disc 4 of the Big Star box set Keep An Eye On The Sky – the band play to a disinterested audience, classic songs fly out over the heads of the crowd and connect with us, a quarter of a century later.
Muddy Waters – Authorised Bootleg – an essential live document of the legendary bluesman to put alongside his best.

And some bands felt the need to spruce up their whole catalogue - some guys from Liverpool and einige Jungs aus Düsseldorf were particularly good at that.

But maybe the best of them all was a compilation called Can You Dig It? – Music & Politics in Black Action Films 1968-75 – creative funky soul scoring some of the most remarkable movies. Just read the names on the cover: Isaac Hayes, Bobby Womack, Quincy Jones, Roy Ayers, Curtis Mayfield, and many more.  Damn!

Have a great Christmas and I’ll be back early in the New Year with my new music picks from 2009. Here’s Curtis..

You know the feeling you get when you’re a little kid, and someone gives you a kaleidoscope – you’ve never seen one before, you point it at a window, put your eye to it and start turning? Ooh..

That’s how I feel when I listen to Blue Roses. Head on over to her MySpace page.

You’ll hear echoes of Bjork, Liz Fraser, Kate Bush.. but mostly you’ll hear Laura Groves.

Lovely stuff. Download ‘Doubtful Comforts‘.

Jarvis gave it everything, stack-heeled stomps, melodramatic flourishes, furious vogue-ing, and paced it perfectly. If you’ve never seen him in the flesh, you should. The band served up the scuzzy new tunes aided by a plethora of vintage guitars.. more Burnses, Danelectros and Voxes than you could shake a stick at plus, of course, a white Gibson SG three pickup (if you’re going to do glam rock, do it with one of those). Long-time Cocker associate Steve Mackey from Pulp fuzzed it up nicely on bass.

Just about a perfect gig. Shame on those wimps who couldn’t face the jaw-dropping feedback wig-out at the end of ‘You’re In My Eyes’.. you missed ‘Running The World’: more fool you.

What a performer.

His song selection was:
1 New York Dolls – (There’s Gonna Be Be A) Showdown
2 Marianne Faithful – Come And Stay With Me
3 Ramones – Loudmouth
4 Velvet Underground – The Black Angel’s Death Song
5 Klaus Nomi – Der Nussbaum
6 Nico – I’m Not Saying
7 Iggy and the Stooges – Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell
8 Mott the Hoople – Sea Diver

And he’d take the complete works of Oscar Wilde and a nice bed with him to the island. Yep. Sea Diver, what a fantastic song that is.