Track Listing

1. Roll Up and Shine
2. Bartender and the Thief
3. Hurry Up and Wait
4. Pick a Part That's New
5. Just Lookin'
6. Half the Lies You Tell Ain't True
7. I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio
8. T-Shirt Sun Tan
9. Is Yesterday, Tomorrow, Today?
10. Minute Longer
11. She Takes Her Clothes Off
12. Plastic California
13. I Stopped to Fill My Car Up

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #149259 in Music
• Published on: 1999
• Released on: 1999-02-05
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Album Description
The Welsh indie rock trio's 1999 sophomore release featuring the U.K. top three hit 'The Bartender And The Thief' and the single 'Just Looking'. 13 tracks in all.

Amazon.com
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

Customer Reviews

it's okay, but what's the big deal?
It's good, but I just didn't find this album very original. It's okay for what it is, some basic rock and roll, but after the first three tracks all the songs sound the same.

Stomp Rock Brit/Welsh Style At Its Best
The Sterophonics' second album offers a refreshing offering of Brit Stomp Rock (except they are Welsh). What a great album, full of great guitar hooks and band leader Kelly Jones' personal views of life and relationships.

The album starts of with a rousing "Roll Up and Shine", as good an album opener as you will find. The next track "The Bartender and The Thief" (one of the album's highly succesful singles in the UK) is an up-uptempo rocker, just great. "Hurry Up and Wait" (another of the singles) is an accoustic-based slower song, contemplating the question of why we wanna hurry up all the time. "Half The Lies" is one of the album's best tracks, another stomp-along tracks, and the same can be said for the ironically titled "Is Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow", demonstrating Kelly Jones' smart lyrics. "I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio" (another single) stems from a dream Kelly had about "Ringo Starr and George Harrison singing in front of my parents' house", and while originally intended to be sung by drummer Stuart Cable (in the vein of Ringo Starr), in the end Kelly has lead vocals on this one.

This album was the break-through for the Stereophonics in the UK and it's easy to see why: great melodies, great guitar hooks, and interesting themes. The band has made some headway in the US this year (most recently opening for U2), but they deserve much better. BUY IT!

Up the Stereophonics!
I thought the national dish of the Welsh was Leek and Sheep pie but these boys are ravenous tripe hounds. The Bartender and The Thief and Pick A Part That's New were big hits but that's about all that's interesting about this derivative guitar music. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but these boys show time and again that youth is no barrier to a deficiency of originality. I'm only giving them five stars cause I feel so sorry for them.