Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever
Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever is the third studio album by English indie rock band The Cribs. It was released on 21 May 2007 through Wichita Recordings in the UK and Warner Bros. Records in the U.S. Critically acclaimed, the album propelled the band into a greater audience, reaching number thirteen on the UK Album Charts, number nine on the annual 'Albums of the Year' by influential UK music magazine "NME" and various other end-of-year lists. The album's lead single, "Men's Needs", also reached number three in  the same "NME" chart. Background and recording. At the conclusion of "The New Fellas" campaign, the Cribs signed a major label deal with Warner Bros. Records in North America, retaining Wichita Recordings in the UK and Ireland. Recording for the album began in autumn 2006 with Franz Ferdinand lead vocalist Alex Kapranos as producer at the Warehouse Studio, Vancouver, British Columbia. With the majority of the album recorded, the band undertook a run of small club dates to preview the new songs, captured on the accompanying "Leave too Neat" documentary. Further sessions took place at Avatar, New York City in  spring 2007, producing "Be Safe", a collaboration with Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, and "Shoot the Poets", which closes the record. David Corcos engineered the sessions, whereas Andy Wallace mixed the record, with all the songs receiving mastering treatment at Alchemy, London, from John Davis. Composition. Rob Crane designed the cover and inlay artwork with the photograph originally being taken by Bert Hardy, with Bob Taylor photographing the Belle Vue stadium shot and Janette Beckman taking the couch shot. Gary plays bass and provides vocals, Ross sticks to drums and Ryan takes guitar and vocal duties. Lee Ranaldo takes on  lead vocals for "Be Safe". Singles. The album produced four singles: "Men's Needs" preceded on 14 May 2007, with "Moving Pictures" following on 30 July. The double a-side "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant?"/"Our Bovine Public" introduced a new song recorded shortly after the album sessions finished on 15 October, and "I'm a Realist" closed the run on 25 February 2008.