Just Enough Education to Perform

We’ll spare you the “big in Britain” propaganda—after all, so is mad cow disease—but Stereophonics’ latest is enough to get us foaming at the mouth. Sticking to the same formula as their 1999 sleeper, Performance and Cocktails, the Welsh lads mix sharp-eyed songwriting with bright pop melodies and brassy vocals. Echoes of early Radiohead (“Lying in the Sun”) and, yes, the Rolling Stones (“Rooftop”) ring a little loudly at times, but since when is it a crime to wear your influences on your sleeve?