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This Welsh band has been called the "Matchbox Twenty" of Britpop, which can be a good or bad thing depending on how avant garde you claim to be. Unfortunately, the innate talent of this band was overlooked by many critics, because like Matchbox Twenty of american alterative rock, the Stereophonics arrived after the britpop genre had already peaked artistically but record companies were still churning out several interchangeable bands. If you're looking for a band that knows how to construct quality pop songs that are catchy yet poignant, then they're the band for you. If you're looking for a band that sounds completely different than the pop status quo then perhaps you should look elsewhere.

The Stereophonics put together great songs, each with their own pervasive driving beat, and beefy guitar hooks. The raw vocals of Kelly Jones perfectly underscore their tragic, yet beautiful lyrics. Unlike some of their more idyllic contemporary songwriters, the Stereophonics have an uncanny sense of irony in portraying their song subjects. I doubt Matchbox Twenty or Northern Uproar could come up with the staggering metaphorical lyric from "A Thousand Trees" that describes a football coach torn down by rumors: "it takes one tree to make a thousand matches/only takes one match to burn a thousand trees." This first album catches them at their freshest and their songs capture the idealism of youth fading away as it approaches the harsh realities of the real world.

Songs such as "A Thousand Trees," "Looks Like Chaplin," the breathtaking "Traffic," and "Local Boy in the Photograph" all strive to capture the fleeting tragedies that often go unnoticed in small town life. "Last of the Big Time Drinkers" and "Goldfish Bowl" are both songs that lament and celebrate alcohol only as a self-defeating escape to a droll working class existence.