Over the latter half of 2021, it was a good time to be a fan of The Cribs. The introduction of their exclusive club titled the Sonic Blew Singles Club allowed fans of the band to access 4 never before heard pieces of music taken from their catalogue throughout the recording sessions for their 2020 album Night Network. “Basically, after 3 years away from the road we just ended up with SO many songs built up in the vaults that we wanted to try doing something different and interesting with them!” explained Gary Jarman, the band’s long term bass player and singer. Now, something else is being teased. The band announced on Twitter that something is “Coming soon” … the Sonic Blew Classics. Quite what this means… I’m not sure. But I’ve got a pretty solid guess as to what might be in store for us.
COMING SOON…#sonicblewclassics pic.twitter.com/nWfhQJaV2f
— The Cribs (@thecribs) May 23, 2022
If you had to make an educated guess, one could assume that the teaser is alluding to a limited-edition re-issue of their self-titled debut, and maybe even more. As the images pop up during the snippet, it’s pretty clear to any big fan of the band’s early work that we’re getting some extra content regarding the band’s first LP. Then as the album’s artwork fades out, and the Sonic Blew Classics logo comes in with the colour palette of the debut… are we due a couple of reissues from the band’s back catalogue? Maybe a collectors club releasing more limited releases from back in the day? Think along the same lines as Third Man Records’ member’s Vault Package. The perfect place to bag any Third Man-based records, posters, and pretty much any other memorabilia. None of this is confirmed might I add. But the name Sonic Blew ClassicS (with an S) really implied some longevity to this reissue.
Last August when the singles club was first announced, Jarman explained the reasoning behind the situation as such, “Back in the day, we were always a band that were known for our B-sides – a concept that is pretty much irrelevant nowadays…we know that the fans miss this, so setting up the Sonic Blew Singles Club seemed like the ideal solution – we get to clear the vaults, and people get a guaranteed new single plus B-side every month.” While we may no longer be talking specifically about unheard B-sides from their most recent project, I see no reason why the same principle cannot be applied to a new, revamped version of their debut, but now with all the fan favourite B-sides and rarities as a part of a standalone package. Seems like every record collector’s dream if you ask me.
