"Men's Needs" was released in May 2007 as the first single taken from the third studio album by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

The Cribs The Cribs are a British indie rock band originally from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, that formed in 2001. The band consists of twins Gary Jarman, Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The ...

. The song provided listeners with new material for the first time since December 2005, and later found release on third LP ''

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 pr ...

'' in May 2007. Recorded at the Warehouse Studio in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

with

Franz Ferdinand Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. Fran ...

vocalist and guitarist

Alex Kapranos Alexander Paul Kapranos (born 20 March 1972) is a Scottish musician. He is the lead singer and lead guitarist of Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand. He has also been a part of the supergroups FFS and BNQT. Early life Alexander Paul Kapranos ...

, the song received additional treatment at Alchemy,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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Physical release

The song received a physical release in numerous forms, through two seven inch records and a CD single, in addition to digital download. Frequent band collaborator Nick Scott designed the sleeve, whereas Bob Taylor provided band photography for the releases. The release featured the catalogue numbers 'WEBB124S', 'WEBB124SX' and 'WEBB124SCD'.

B-sides

"Tonight", the seven-inch vinyl one B-side, came from the same sessions as the rest of the album, whereas "Fairer Sex", the CD single flip, found completion at Avatar Studios,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

along with "Be Safe" and "Shoot the Poets". The acoustic version of "I've Tried Everything", the 7" vinyl two b-side, came from a Board of Trade Building session in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, with

Joe Plummer Joseph E. Plummer is an American drummer from Portland, Oregon. From 2004 to 2012, Plummer was a percussionist and drummer for the indie rock band Modest Mouse and performed on their album, ''We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank''. Before joi ...

providing additional percussion duties.

Chart position

The song reached number seventeen in the UK Singles Chart, the highest position to date for the band.

Critical reception

The song featured at number three on the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' 'Songs of the Year 2007', named 'Single of the Year' by the ''

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'' newspaper and finished in the 'Top 100 Songs of 2007' published by ''

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'' in the

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. In 2009, ''

'' also named "Men's Needs" as one of the 'Songs of the Decade', saying that this took them "from cult favourites to one of Britain's best loved bands". Furthermore, in October 2011, ''NME'' placed the song at number ninety-eight on a list '150 Best Tracks of the Past Fifteen Years'.

Music video

Directed by

Diane Martel Diane Martel (also known as Bucky Chrome and Diamond Martel) is an American music video director and choreographer. As a music video director, she has worked with Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Sting and Jennifer Lopez. One of her ...

, the video depicts the band playing "Men's Needs" in front of a yellow background. A nude woman (censored due to

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

restrictions) licks and kisses vocalist and guitarist Ryan, dances and trashes

amplifiers An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It is a two-port electronic circuit that uses electric power from a power suppl ...

, performs household tasks, punches the band members and interrupts proceedings. Near the middle of the video, she throws a knife at drummer

Ross Ross may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ross (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan Places Antarctica * Ross Sea ...

and severs his arm. Using Ross' severed arm she then cuts off Ryan's head, which she then holds in her arms during his guitar solo. Both have their limbs back on their bodies for the third verse. Oblivious to all these actions, the band plays on. The graphic nature of the video led to a ban on

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision. The channel launched initially as an all-music ...

before the watershed due to

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

complaints about violence and nudity. Three versions of the video exist: the first censored version as described above, a second version that shows the woman wearing a

leotard A leotard () is a unisex skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso from the crotch to the shoulder. The garment was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard (1838–1870). There are sleeveless, short-sleeved, and l ...

and a third uncensored version.

Track listing

Footnotes

External links

official band websiteofficial record label website
{{authority control 2007 singles The Cribs songs Music videos directed by Diane Martel Songs written by Gary Jarman Songs written by Ross Jarman Songs written by Ryan Jarman 2007 songs Wichita Recordings singles