Release Date:
Tuesday, September 9, 2003
Artist:
Stereophonics
No one can accuse Stereophonics of not giving a fuck; their fourth album is all about trying. The Welsh outfit all but goes for broke attempting to convince us that their otherwise standard-issue Brit-rock is coursing with soul and grandeurand it often works. Maybe Tomorrow marries swaggering wah-wah guitar licks, a swooning string arrangement and the ooh-ahhs of female backup singers to a reflective, blissed-out, head-nodder of a tune. Frontman Kelly Jones voice, which bleeds with the ultra-gravelly strain of a guy whos been smoking cigarettes since his third trimester, holds its own against a powerful gospel choir on the rollicking Madame Helga. At times, all that trying becomes too apparent and the Phonics come off like a Black Crowes cover band. But when they just relax and let fly, as they do on Climbing the Wallwhich employs lazy, country-tinged acoustic guitar and a warm, soulful horn line in the service of a song ultimately about jerking offweve got no truck with the results.