Ignore the Ignorant

Audio Mixer: Nick Launay.Recording information: Seedy Underbelly Studio, Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, CA.The Cribs stretch their lineup and music on Ignore the Ignorant, adding Johnny Marr as their fourth member and adopting a more polished sound. This isn't a coincidence -- Marr's stint with Modest Mouse also saw that group tighten its playing and production on We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. His influence, along with producer Nick Launay's, is felt immediately on the dark, driving opening tracks "We Were Aborted" and "Cheat on Me"; later, "Ignore the Ignorant"'s melancholy bounce bears more than a passing resemblance to the Smiths' classic "Panic." Even brash moments such as "Victims of Mass Production," "Hari Kari," and "Emasculate Me" have notably more sophisticated songwriting than any of the Cribs' previous work, but the band spends most of Ignore the Ignorant testing its boundaries. The big, unabashed pop instincts that have lurked close to the surface since The Cribs are