The Cribs - Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever

Wakefield's finest family band, the Cribs' long-awaited return under the much-publicised watchful ear of a certain Mr Kapranos is a hit and miss affair, with patches of brilliance let down by weaker efforts, often suffering from slightly bizarre lyrics and disjointed melodies. At its best it's superb – opener Our Bovine Public is probably a strong runner for catchiest opener of the year and sets the bar at a level seemingly unreachable for the rest of the LP. Things get close during first single Men's Needs and the Strokes-lite offering I'm a Realist - however, despite this impressive musicianship things become all too disposable. The second half of the album is held up by Be Safe, a mostly-spoken word number with a chatty Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) doing his bit whilst album closer Shoot the Poets only just manages to finish things off on a slightly belated high. [Jon Seller]