Just Enough Education to Perform

Into Their Own
by: bill aicher

With their third album, Welsh band Stereophonics have finally come into their own. With Just Enough Education to Perform, the trio has released a truly mature disc - one that will inevitably propel them to the forefront of the minds of those who had previously ignored them.

Trading in much of their brit-rock edge for a more Americana / alt-country style, JEEP proves that Kelly Jones and co. are delightfully at home, even if they appear a bit out of place given previous efforts. While the album opener "Vegas Two Times" is a splendidly rocking track which could easily pass for a Black Crowes early B-Side, the album slows down and becomes much more introspective from there on out.

Semi-acoustic tracks like the single "Have a Nice Day," "Step on My Old Size Nines," and "Lying in the Sun," interact pefectly with Jones' intelligent lyrics and rough, early Rod Stewart, vocals. And it is in these songs that the band truly shines.

Still they do manage to stumble here and there, most notably in the lead single "Mr. Writer." A bash at music journalists who have wronged him in the past, Jones lyrics are clumsy at times and tends to feel a bit whiny.

Even the low points, however, are above average - only low in relation to the rest of the album. In truth, Stereophonics' time has only just begun. Forget Perfomance and Cocktails and Word Gets Around, Just Enough Education to Perform shows that Stereophonics have learned all the lessons they need. 04-Dec-2001 10:30 PM