Stay classy, dance on harpsichords!

It's the day after. The day after the Cribs have shed the light on their side of the story of why Johnny Marr has left the Cribs. Which, logically, brings reactions from the fans. And as much as the Cribs' facebook statement oozes 'Thank god he's gone' (to put it a harshly), I can only frown upon most of the fans reactions posted as a comment to that statement and as an @-reply on twitter. The majority of the reactions so far are of the same nature. 'Hip hop hurrah for old-school Cribs, we won't miss Johnny for one bit, he never suited you anyway. Yeah lo-fi anthems!'. Like a parade of how much you love the 'old stuff', how hardcore and much of a real fan you are and always have been. And mostly it's quite unfriendly towards Marr. On public places where everyone including the Band and Johnny Marr, can read this? Are you serious?

I'm not going to be all two-faced and pretend to be sad about this news. I too like the fact that they're gone back to their roots. There's nothing more sincere than a band staying true to their roots. I may throw a massive Johnny's Gone party on the Dam Square in Amsterdam, releasing doves and balloons and blasting out pre-first-album demos while dancing round naked around the National Monument (for the record, I won't), but that's something i'd do privately. Not in the band and Johnny's faces. If I am happy painting myself purple and dancing naked on top of a harpsichord, singing 'Fuck yeah Johnny's gone again', that's my subtle way in my living room. My business. They really don't need to know. And no, I won't do that either, it's just a lame excuse to use my favourite Blackadder quote again.

My point simply is, be happy all you want, throw parties and confetti. But stay classy and respectful to the people involved. For once in your bloody lives. I think I just remembered why I don't like fans and the side effects of open social media. You want lo-fi and old-school? Try refraining yourself throwing your thoughts into the band's faces. Back in the days you weren't able to. Back in the days, the word friend had more meaning, too.

I think I just dropped my jaw

Band statements are usually a bunch of official yadda yadda with no actual contents whatsoever or leaving a lot of question marks. They rarely leave me with my mouth wide open. Excuse me while I relocate my chin. Here's the statement the Cribs left on their facebook (I still hate facebook despite using it) regarding Johnny Marr being no longer a member of the band. Honesty and purity don't come in these shapes that often anymore.

Hey guys,
So, as some of you may know by now The Cribs are gonna be a 3-piece again. That is a slightly less dramatic way of saying that Johnny Marr is no longer in the band. We don't want it to be seen as a split, that just has so many negative connotations and really doesn't represent the way everyone is feeling right now.

The truth... is that, as Johnny said, we did more than we ever set out to do together really - we were initially just playing together as friends, and decided it might be fun to do a trademark Cribs 'surprise one-off seven inch' or something of that ilk, but as we went along we just kept writing. First it was a single, then an EP, we just happened to really enjoy playing together and ended up writing a full album. We were/are all really proud of the work we did together and we did mean it in our assertions that Johnny was very much a full-time member of the band. There were definite intentions of continuing on together and making another record - we even went into the studio with Edwyn Collins again last spring and started recording some stuff, but it just wasn't really working. We were all pretty burnt at that point and that is why we decided that after 8 years (I know, crazy!) and 4 records we should take some time off.

During that time we all intended on working on other projects (Ryan started producing and writing with Edwyn, Gary contributing to All Smiles etc) and at some point late last year, we just casually got together out in Portland as a 3-piece and it was so much fun. Johnny had started working on a solo record in the time off, and it just seemed like the right time to go our separate ways. It's not like "JOHNNY LEAVES!", or "BAND SPLIT!", or any of that drama - just a good time to do something else really.

No one is down about this in our camp. It's actually the start of a really exciting phase for everyone. Johnny has gone back to The Healers and is writing a new record, and we are really honestly loving being back together as just 3 brothers literally playing in the basement/garage again. Right now we are in Portland and demoing in Gary's basement and it feels so liberating. We have a bunch of new songs and are embracing the lo-fi again. It never was about fancy studios and LA and all that. We are back in our usual environment and feeling good about it. We've got everything we need.

We are also really looking forward to the shows we have coming up. We miss you guys.

Best regards - your friends Gary, Ryan and Ross (THE CRIBS)