Ignore the Ignorant

Untitled

Ignore the Ignorant found release on 7 September 2009 as the fourth studio album by British indie rock band The Cribs via Wichita Recordings, following the release of first single 'Cheat on Me' on 31 August. Warner Bros. Records released the album one day later on 8 September in North America as a digital download, then given a physical outlet later in the year on 10 November.

Background

After a chance meeting with Johnny Marr in Portland, OR, the band invited the guitarist to join as a touring member in February 2008, with the prospect of recording together proposed for the future. The remainder of year found the band writing new material in Portland, OR, Manchester and Wakefield, with a short UK tour that took place at the ABC, Glasgow, the Manchester Ritz for two nights, St. George's Hall, Bradford and Heaven, London used to roadtest some of the new songs before recording commenced.

Recording

Sessions for the album began first with rehearsal/pre-production in January 2009 at a rented, rural barn in Oregon City, OR. However, the band soon relocated to record the majority of the LP at Seedy Underbelly Studions, Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles with producer Nick Launay throughout spring and summer 2009. The main body of the recording found completion in three separate weeks, with another seven day stretch spent on overdubs and mixing. Launay oversaw the mixing process too, with assistance from Atom and engineers Nick Veitbakk and Erick Phillips. Additional mixing took place at British Grove Studios, London, with Tim Young mastering the final recordings at Metropolis.

Composition

As per previous Cribs releases, Nick Scott provided the cover and inlay artwork, assisted on this occasion by Nell Frizzell amongst others. The four-piece line-up of the band included Gary on vocals and bass, Ross on drums and percussion, Ryan on vocals and guitar and Johnny on guitar and backing vocals. However, some songs featured additional instrumentation. Gary played Hammond organ on ‘We Share the Same Skies’ and ‘Victim of Mass Production’. For ‘Save Your Secrets’, Gary played guitar and kalimba piano, with Ryan on baritone, and in turn, Gary takes on the latter instrument and mellotron for ‘Stick to Yr Guns’ whereas Ryan features on violin and additional mellotron.

Singles

Initially, opening track 'We Were Aborted' received a debut on the Radio 6 Steve Lamacq show, becoming available for free download that day. Two singles found release to promote the album. The first single arrived on 31 August 2009 with 'Cheat on Me', while 6 November brought 'We Share the Same Skies'.

Charts

The album reached number eight on the UK albums chart, the highest-charting release for the band. Released the same week as all of the de luxe Beatles re-issues, Ignore the Ignorant outsold all but two of them in the first week. As great admirers of the Liverpudlian foursome, the band described this in various interviews at the time as "surreal".

Charts (2009)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart	8

Critical Reception

Reviews of the album proved particularly strong, with all major UK music magazines giving positive comments and praise. Aside from the marks given above, Robert Earle of Stereola gave the album 9 out of 10, describing Ignore the Ignorant as "a masterpiece from start to finish."

In December 2009, Mojo magazine placed the album at number eleven in their 'Albums of the Year' chart, with The Fly going several places higher at seven in their respective version and NME offering thirtieth position. In Japan, Crossbeat magazine continued the trend with a number eight ranking for their 'Albums of 2009' list, whilst Music Magazine provided the high accolade of number one.

The Roses Edition

A special, de luxe box set edition of the record, nicknamed The Roses Edition, found release in areas local to the band. The Cribs hoped to encourage people in buying the physical format of the album, and in doing so support local record stores. Originally, The Roses Edition only found availability from record stores in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Oregon. However, due to demand, many record stores stocked this version of the album. The box contains Ignore the Ignorant, a live CD of the band performing in February, Live at the Ritz, Manchester, a DVD documentary of the recording of the album, Secrets Saved, and a silent film titled The Serpent and the Peach, recorded predominantly on a hand-held camera by Ryan.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gary Jarman, Ross Jarman, Ryan Jarman and Johnny Marr

No.	Title	Length
1.	"We Were Aborted"	3:09
2.	"Cheat on Me"	3:24
3.	"We Share the Same Skies"	3:15
4.	"City of Bugs"	6:22
5.	"Hari Kari"	3:44
6.	"Last Year's Snow"	3:35
7.	"Emasculate Me"	3:35
8.	"Ignore the Ignorant"	3:18
9.	"Save Your Secrets"	4:29
10.	"Nothing"	3:41
11.	"Victim of Mass Production"	4:08
12.	"Stick to Yr Guns"	5:08

iTunes bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Is Anybody There?"	3:08