Stereophonics – Graffiti On The Train

Freddie Matthews writes from London: Just 10 tracks? The brand new, as yet unreleased (4 March), Stereophonics album is here and very much worth the 4-year wait.

Twenty one years in the music business and Stereophonics still reign supreme. Now, here’s album number 8, Graffiti On The Train, which is far more accessible and dare I say ‘British’ than previous efforts. You may remember back in 1997 when the lads from Cwmaman in Mid Glamorgan, Wales, released album number one, Word Gets Around, with songs like Local Boy In The Photograph; More Life In A Tramps Vest and A Thousand Trees. It was raw, edgy and cool. The band had just signed up to the brand new record label created by Richard Branson called V, for Virgin, 2. At that time the original lineup consisted of the mainstay band members: front man, lead vocalist and guitarist Kelly Jones; bassist and backing vocalist Richard Jones and also the, now, late Stuart Cable, on drums. Although he was sacked because of commitment issues in September 2003, Stuart Cable was a huge part of the band’s rise to fame in the first 6 years. Cable was found dead at his home Llwdcoed, Wales, at 5:30 am on 7 June 2010, aged 40, after a long drinking session. He had choked on his own vomit. I had the pleasure of seeing him play on many occasions for Stereophonics and I’ll always remember his bursting personality, a brilliant yet heavy handed and unique drumming style.
It was to be with album number 2, Performance and Cocktails, that Stereophonics would gain popular mainstream success. The album featured the singles: Pick A Part That’s New, The Bartender and The Thief; Just Looking. Stereophonics also collaborated with Sir Tom Jones on a rocky cover of the Randy Newman classic, Mama Told Me Not To Come, which remains a fan favourite to this day and also helped elevate their mainstream popularity.
Just Enough Education To Perform, album number 3, followed in 2001. It went straight to No.1 in the album chart and included the single, Have A Nice Day, a song that’s remained a radio and TV favourite ever since.
Album number four, You Gotta Go There To Come Back, was the first tour without original drummer Stuart Cable, as he’d been sacked by that point, although he remained on most of the album recordings, with the new drummer Javier Weyler only playing percussion for the most part on the album. There was something not quite right with this album despite entering the UK album chart again at No.1. For me it was the start of strange times for Stereophonics. Maybe the mood was a reflection of the problems and issues the rest of the band was dealing with, due to Cable’s disruptive and non-committal side but something wasn’t quite right.

The next album, ‘Language. Sex. Violence. Other?’ presented a darker more indie Stereophonics back into the mix and spawned the bands only UK No.1 single to date, Dakota, a song that many said was heralded as the single of the year in 2005. However the album was the start of the band sounding more increasingly American and cinematic, which is a phase that they have hopefully now grown out of and moved away from.

Pull The Pin was released in 2007. It became Stereophonics’ 5^th consecutive UK No. 1 album but just 2 years later along came the 7^th studio album, which totally out of character achieved their lowest chart position ever. It was an album of confusion with no clear direction, almost as if they were clinging onto a far too long in the tooth format. Were the lads from Wales on the way out? Had they outgrown their popularity and audience alike? Did Stereophonics need some fresh blood? No. No and Yes!
Kelly and the rest of Stereophonics obviously listened to someone for this the first new studio album in over 4 years. They have ‘another’ new drummer, this time in the shape of former Noissette sticksman Jamie Morrison. On the eve of the release for their 8^th album Stereophonics have mixed things up even more. Kelly Jones said, ‘I found myself walking into a studio with 40 unfinished ideas, rather than 10 finished ones. And by doing that, the songs became way more unpredictable… the band and everyone involved had a good time doing it because we knew we were doing something we hadn’t done before.’ That comment reminds me of their album title, You’ve Got To Go There To Come Back, a truer saying couldn’t be more pertinent after the sales flop of the last long player.
Graffiti On The Train, is a bit ballad like in places. However it’s a welcome return to form for Stereophonics. It’s darker, more indie, richer and with plenty of heartbreak. The opening song, We Share The Same Sun, kicks in with an attitude I’ve wanted Stereophonics to share with us again for almost a decade. Kelly’s vocal is sultry and pulls you in deep. Graffiti On The Train, the next single by the way, is an impeccably written ballad with a strings section from the one and only David Arnold, of James Bond theme fame. There’s even a moody and painful guitar solo section towards the end of the song that screams The Edge and it’s sublime. The song Take Me should be on the soundtrack to a vampire film. It’s perfect and how good would that be? Roll The Dice reminds me of Muse but then you could say that Stereophonics have been around for longer. I like it that there’s something new on display here and with new ideas comes new fans and that’s how to secure your future.