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Performance and Cocktails

by Stereophonics

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Stereophonics have evolved remarkably since they were a Welsh covers band who once prided themselves on the authenticity of their Jimi Hendrix set. Though that 1960s influence is muted on the follow-up to their million-selling debut, Word Gets Around, there are enough hard riffs and vocal shred on the power trio's sophomore outing to evoke more contemporary Seattle comparisons. His band's whirlwind success have informed singer-songwriter Kelly Jones' lyrics and vocal persona with some refreshingly wide-eyed cynicism to season his band's hard-edged pop bent. Though they evoke comparisons to everyone from the Faces to Alice in Chains, Stereophonics are clearly carving their own niche, especially on the infectious "She Take Her Clothes Off," the acoustic-rooted "I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio," the raucous opener "Roll Up and Shine," and "A Minute Longer." Like many ambitious young musicians before them, Jones and company have written about the world they've seen from the back of a bar, a tour bus window, and through TV's jaundiced filter; it's the cinematic grace, wit, and humanity of those observations that sets them apart from their Brit-pop peers and forecasts even greater things to come. --Jerry McCulley