Stereophonics
Pull The Pin

I find myself writing this review for one simple reason: I have loved the Stereophonics since the days of "Word Gets Around," through the perfection of "Performance & Cocktails," dreaming to the notes of "Just Enough Education To Perform," letting myself be carried away by the Country nuances of "You Gotta Go There To Come Back," up to "Language, Sex, Violence, Other?," an album that I have both loved and hated, alternating between great insights and much less successful pieces.

So I begin listening to this "Pull The Pin" with a bit of bitterness, a feeling that immediately softens slightly, but not too much, with "Soldiers Make Good Targets", a classic piece with which the Welsh usually open their albums, with its aggressive attack, distortions, dirtier and more aggressive guitar riff than ever, and Kelly's voice leading the game. Although it connects a lot to the previous work, in this piece you start to notice some small novelties especially concerning the work done for the guitars, a great solo at minute 3.20 where you notice a greater collaboration between Kelly and the other guitarist, now almost an integral part of the group, Adam Zindani. The second track is the one that made me jump, the one that confirmed that the trio is back, offering us a track that will kick ass live, "Pass The Buck". A very simple song from a technical point of view (the main guitar riff is A5 D5 G5 C5 A5) but it contains a truly explosive charge especially in the finale when Kelly's scream (the shadow of Oasis is close) overwhelms us with a noteworthy power. We proceed with the ballad "It Means Nothing" where we find nothing new, but that does not mean we shouldn't let ourselves be lulled by that warm and enveloping voice capable of conveying emotions. So we arrive at "Bank Holiday Monday", the first single extracted, which has already been much talked about. A good rock piece, nothing more, especially related to what awaits us.

"Daisy Lane", simply a masterpiece, a song that manages to provide cascades of emotion, intimate, enveloping, delicate, maybe even too much when it leads to a seemingly senseless paparapara papapa but of stunning beauty. We thus find ourselves in the heart of the album perfectly supported by Stone, with a very catchy and beautiful chorus that is not banal; indeed, almost epic, from "My Friends", very unique, with very rockish sounds and a strangely cold voice (as much as Mr. Jones's voice can be), and from "I Could Lose Ya", again a great straightforward rock piece. Skipping "Bright Red Star", not even a bad piece of just voice and guitar that would have been perfect for the frontman's solo project, and I can't understand why it's here, we reach the final trio, "Lady Luck," "Crush" and "Drowning". The first is really a nice piece that I would link as a genre to Stone, very deep, almost a scream of despair in the chorus accompanied by a guitar riff that enhances its agony. The second is a classic rock song (it seems like a second Pass The Buck) that ends in a more than appreciable chorus. The show concludes with "Drowning" which closes the album worthily.

In conclusion, I can only praise this work which, as a whole, does not present any noteworthy declines but, on the other hand, manages to give us moments of great music that the Stereophonics manage to season with a class that has always distinguished them.

And the bitterness has completely dissolved...