‘Our Bovine Public’ epitomises the cliché ‘a blast from the past’: as angsty and pent up as The Cribs could ever be yet totally catchy, it makes you want to headbang and bop at the same time. One of the best songs to see performed live, it’s political without being so overt as to feel oppressive because there’s a lot of humour to be found in the lyrics.
The heavy drum beats seem to emphasise Jarman’s frustration at society’s ‘follow the herd’ mentality, with perhaps a few covert digs at the establishment and the upper classes thrown in there too. In true Cribs style its intelligently crafted without being pretentious and the often incoherent lyrics will have you warbling nonsense for days… In the best possible manner.
Words by Beth Chaplow