Sleevenotes are the biggest giveaway of a band’s sense of self-importance, so it’s no surprise to see that on the Stereophonics’ sixth album, Kelly Jones has seen fit to accompany his lyrics with such insights as: ‘[the song] developed from a rehearsal jam originally in Putney.’ Thanks Kel. With every new release, Jones is increasingly the rockstar equivalent of a Jack Russell – tiny, indefatigable and blind to its own limitations.
And yet, 11 years in, Stereophonics are huge; clearly, there’s something about Jones’s platitudes that speaks to people. ‘Pull The Pin’ is built around tried-and-tested musical motifs and the sort of immaculate production that make for a convincing pop rock album: ‘Pass The Buck’ sounds like a slowed-down Hives track and features a juddering chorus that recalls The Breeders’ ‘Cannonball’. The album’s enjoyable moments, however, are when Jones returns to the subject matter that brought the band attention in the first place: namely spit-flecked tales of urban life, of bank holidays spent dabbing speed and having it off with flirty girls in the lav. It’s not romantic, but it sounds real. The acoustic ‘Bright Red Star’ is a rare moment of softness, Jones’s chainsaw voice uncharacteristically vulnerable.
Too often though, the drums thwack away and the metaphors muddy. ‘That’s when the sleeping dog awakes and comes alive,’ sings Jones. No notes are supplied for that particular gem.
