In the 25 years since their debut album Word Gets Around, Stereophonics have amassed an impressive catalogue of anthemic British indie rock songs – evidenced most prominently in the recent internet resurgence of ‘Dakota’, the kind of track (much like Oasis’ ‘Wonderwall’ or Arctic Monkeys’ ‘Fluorescent Adolescent) so iconic that you’d be hard pushed to find anyone who couldn’t at least sing the chorus. It therefore comes as no surprise that, to celebrate their quarter century, the band had plans to put together a ”best of” celebration record. However, when exploring archives to examine unfinished or unreleased work for this compilation, lead singer Kelly Jones felt inspired to pen some new music.
The result is a slightly spiky combined record of previously written songs, songs that were in their infancy when rediscovered and refined, and songs written entirely for Oochya!. In this case, the band’s distinctive sound has been advantageous to them; it helps the album to still sound cohesive as a record in spite of the disparity in when its tracks were written.
There are some definite stand outs. Opening track ‘Hanging On Your Hinges’ is a fun and upbeat number, reminiscent of an early Ash, which perfectly encapsulates a euphoric feeling I can only describe as ”indie summer”. ‘Right Place Right Time’ is so quintessentially Stereophonics-sounding it evokes pleasant nostalgia, and ‘Do Ya Feel My Love’ is highly energetic and an excellent example of their heavier rock. These are great songs, but none of them are destined to become classics.
There are a fair number of songs which are less notably enjoyable, but don’t quite stoop to the lows of “filler”. In spite of this, the album is perhaps a little bit too long. Perhaps that’s to be expected from a band who are celebrating an admirable 25 years and want something special to show for it, but it becomes less appealing to listen to as a whole, which is a black mark against any record.
Overall, it’s a really solid album, striking a classic Stereophonics balance between fun, emotional and anthemic. It somewhat lacks the special touch exhibited on earlier records which have become so iconic, and this combined with the slightly spiky feeling mentioned earlier is why it didn’t score higher, but it’s still really enjoyable.
Rating: 3/5
