Cribs Play First New York Show With Johnny Marr

Judging by their performance Thursday night at New York City's Bowery Ballroom, brothers Ryan, Gary and Ross Jarman, better known as the Cribs, share more than just a musical kinship with new member Johnny Marr.

With his matted-down mod haircut and irrepressible energy, the 46-year-old former Smiths guitarist looks, moves and plays like a Jarman. At Thursday's show -- the Cribs' first New York appearance in nearly two years -- those unfamiliar with the band would have been forgiven for thinking they were watching four brothers lay waste to the Bowery stage.

The English trio-turned-quartet opened its frantic hour-long set with 'We Were Aborted,' the leadoff track from its just-released fourth album, 'Ignore the Ignorant.' Marr, a full-time Crib since 2008, led the charge, and as he finished strumming the tune's stuttering intro chords, the brothers Jarman bounded into action.

Ryan, rocking a leather jacked he might have swiped from Joey Ramone's closet, leapt about like a runaway rubber ball, steadying himself only when it became necessary to hunch over and sing into his microphone, positioned several inches too low for dramatic effect.

The guitarist shared lead-singing duties with his twin, Gary, who attacked his bass with equal vigor. On 'I'm a Realist,' one of the evening's standouts, the one-two punch of the brothers' vocals underscored the central complaint of the song's two-faced protagonist: "I'm a realist/ I'm a romantic/ I'm an indecisive piece of s---."

If the audience tried its best to match the band's kinetic fervor, its efforts weren't always enough. "So, has crowd-surfing gone out of fashion in New York?" Ryan asked midway through the show. "This is such a fashionable town." At least one fan took his words as a challenge, and as the band blitzed through 'Our Bovine Public' -- a song about, ironically, people's tendency to follow trends and do as their told -- a tall brunette girl rode a tide of groping hands, waving to the band as she passed the stage.

After collaborating, sort of, with Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo, who recited the spoken-word rant 'Be Safe' via a pre-recorded video projection, the Cribs closed with a pair of ragers, 'Men's Needs' and 'City of Bugs.'

As Marr lunged from side to side and struck various rock-star poses, he appeared content to share, though by no means hog, the spotlight. He may be old enough to be the Jarmans' cool uncle, but really, he's a brother by another mother.