Crown of the War Stone

Sound off: Band of brothers

Sitting in a train as it passed through Leeds on its way to the airport, Ryan Jarman lost the signal on his cell phone. After expressing how much he despises the label “indie rock band,” Jarman’s rant ended mid-sentence. His phone died seconds later. Getting his cell phone to involuntarily shut off may be the only way to silence the outspoken and opinionated singer/lead guitarist for the rising British punk band, The Cribs.

Singer/guitarist Jarman, along with his twin brother, Gary, on bass and vocals, and younger brother Ross on drums, make up the punk trio that will play Boston’s Paradise nightclub Friday, March 21. The threesome, hailing from West Yorkshire, England, carry with them a blend of brash punk rock with infectious pop hooks reminiscent of ’70s-era U.K. punk rock bands the Buzzcocks and The Jam.

Before the conversation ended with a pair of beeps and dead air coming from his mobile phone, Ryan Jarman, 27, started to explain that people who take one listen to The Cribs’ music immediately label them as just another British indie rock band. He continued talking about it a week later when reached by cell phone as he walked the streets of Austin, Texas, with his band and mini entourage during South by Southwest (SXSW), a music and film festival.

“In the U.K., the indie rock scene became huge. It became like proper commercial music,” Jarman said. “It still is proper commercial music, and it’s very, very mainstream now. We just didn’t want people to think that we are one of those bands, especially in the U.S., where it’s easy to appeal to things like that because you hear about all these other bands that are coming out, and we’re like, ‘we’re not mainstream.’ Obviously we want to do well, but we want to do well on our own terms. We don’t want to be considered one of these mainstream kind of bands that don’t really have a clear view. It’s absurd.”

The Cribs, literally speaking, built themselves independently. They recorded and self-released songs before signing to Wichita Recordings, an independent U.K. label, in 2004. They put out a pair of albums on Wichita before releasing their third disc, Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever, late last summer on a major U.S. label, Warner Bros. Records.

“Obviously we are British, and you can call us an indie band because we are very independent, but the word ‘indie’ has changed into a bit of a genre or faction, you know,” Jarman said. “In the U.K., we’ve always been on independent label. We never wanted to be where we are lumped in with some of these U.K. bands, these new U.K. bands. We want to distance ourselves as much as possible from stuff like that.”

Despite signing to a major label, The Cribs still remain very independent. They write their own music and express their opinions without holding back. They want people to see them as the same group they’ve been since day one – a three-piece punk rock band that started from scratch and built its fan base from the ground on up. Their fans back home have embraced the band’s do-it-yourself attitude and approach, and people here in the U.S. have started to do the same.

The Cribs have plenty of support in the U.S. Their first two albums, The Cribs and The New Fellas, made the rounds, not as much as Men’s Needs, but people heard their music.

“We did two records that kind of got distribution over there (in the U.S.), but we still need to go over and tour anyway. Our fans wanted to see us live,” Jarman said. “It seems to be working. It’s just like in the U.K. where we toured for such a long time that we kind of spread by word of mouth. It might sound a bit wonkers, but when you get there, it means a lot more. You know you’ve got a fan base you can trust, but it’s a fan base you know.”

The Cribs’ U.S. fan base grew even more after the band’s recent performances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Earlier this month, the band played the epic SXSW festival, which has become a major showcase for up-and-coming artists. Tuesday, March 18, The Cribs made their debut on the Late Show with David Letterman.

In addition to television appearances, The Cribs have started picking up more and more U.S. fans the more they tour, and their new fans have started becoming more intense. But those fans haven’t reache …

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