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Rating: Good morning DeBaser!
First "review" for me. Honestly, I don't know what drove me to jot down these few lines. Perhaps an extremely placid Saturday afternoon; or the approach of New Year's where you recap a bit of everything you've done, and alas, haven't done. So I told myself: - I’m writing a review on De-Baser! - (If someone reads to the end, they will curse me for this).
Having finished the disjointed preamble, the "review" begins for real. Or it should begin; because right now I can't find the right opening (I've written and erased several sentences before writing this one above).
Okay, enough with the chit-chat, for every first review worth its salt, I should recite lines like: be kind, don't dismiss it out of hand, etc... but let's skip this unpleasant convention (though by now I've said them anyway, what an idiot!).
Well, procrastinating is not my strong suit (or is it?), the album I am about to review is (as you've already read above) the debut album of the Stereophonics. The Welsh band composed of, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!, formed in zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!. (We can perhaps do without this, right?). The Stereophonics represent one of the bands that guided me by the hand at the dawn of my musical journey, especially through this album, which I consider by far the best in their entire career.
Premise: In their latest exploits, they have trivially sold out! (An image of the dwarf-singer, Kelly Jones, popped into my mind, standing on a pedestal in the middle of a hypermarket, trying to attract passersby with cries of: Step right up, folks, step right up, come buy my new album!! And there, in the midst of a total frenzy of crowded fifteen-year-olds, waving their papa's money; our little dwarf, like a good circus performer, does somersaults to write something akin to this "WORD GETS AROUND" again). I think all this and I'm a bit saddened to hear them this way, but looking back, I see the reflection of who I was while singing these songs aloud (I still occasionally listen to the CD in the car the same way. Yep, I'm a nostalgic!). I stop and smile, pondering how much I've changed since then. Ultimately, I can't despise a band just because they didn't stay as I wanted them to. People change, folks! And we don't always remember that.
As for the musical content of the album: It starts quickly with: "A thousand trees" which is very catchy, without departing from the brit-pop terrain. As it progresses, there are less successful episodes which end up being a bit redundant with each other, but at the same time quite enjoyable. The best compositions are: "LOCAL BOY IN A PHOTOGRAPH" in which a very sad scene is shown through very simple, yet emphatic images, telling of a young boy's death. The music is very compelling. It continues with other songs of a certain significance such as: "SAME SIZE FEET, LAST OF THE BIG TIME DRINKERS, GOLDFISH BOWL" whose lyrics I recommend you read, where Kelly Jones (songwriter) displays a great evocative flair. The album concludes with: "BILLY DAVEY'S DAUGHTER" which is my favorite. A very simple guitar weaves the story of a rather mournful tale, which in an elegiac tone closes the circle of all the stories told on the album. Stories of the village, of a province that no longer exists. The first time I listened to them, they seemed to come out of Stephen King's "Different Seasons": a bigoted town where life runs on a single track, where the train is perpetually late and there's no time to wait for anyone; a place where sad memories sometimes resurface.
In conclusion, I want to point out that the album is not sublime musically, like those of other much more technical bands, but in its naivety, it possesses a sincere soul, regardless of beauty. That's what this album is: SINCERE! A virtue that in today's music circuit is a rarity.
"WORD GETS AROUND"... An album that now belongs to the past and that when judging now, certainly makes some coy passages, despite this, for me, it remains there: a dormant backache, that on cold nights returns to surface. I could play it for my grandchildren (if I ever have any), while they look at an old photo album.
Yes, because inside it harbors a part of what I was, and probably also of what I am...
XO
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 A Thousand Trees (03:02)
Standing at the bus stop
with my shopping in my hands
when I'm overhearing elderly ladies
as the rumours start to fly
Hear them in the school yard
in the scrap yard
in the chip shop
in the phone box
in the pool hall
at the shoe stall
every corner turned around
It started with a school girl
who was running
running home to her mam and dad
told them she was playing
in the change room
of her local football side
They said tell us again
she told them again
they said tell us the truth
I find it hard to believe
cause he taught our Steve
he even trained me
taught Uncle john
who's a father of three
CHORUS
It only takes one tree
to make a thousand matches
only takes one match
to burn a thousand trees
You see it in the class room
in the swimming pool
where the match stick men are made
at the scouts hall
at the football
where the wise we trust are paid
They all honour his name
he did a lot for the game
he got his name knocked up
above the sports ground gates
Now they're ripping them down
stamping the ground
picture gathers dust
in the bar
CHORUS
Wake up and smell the rain
shake up he's back to stay
he hasn't been on a holiday
growing seeds don't believe
why he's been away
In the school yard
change room
playing fields
bathroom
phone box
office blocks
corners turned around
They keep doubting the flame
tossing the blame
got his name knocked up
above the sports ground gates
Now they're ripping them down
stamping the ground
pictures gathers dust
in the bar in the lounge
CHORUS
04 Local Boy in the Photograph (03:22)
There's no mistake
I smell that smell
It's that time of year again
I can taste the air
The clocks go back
Railway track
Something blocks the line again
And the train runs late for the first time
A pebble beach
We're underneath
A pier just been painted red
Where I heard the news for the first time
And all the friends lay down the flowers
Sit on the banks and drink for hours
Talk of the way they saw him last
Local boy in the photograph
He'll always be 23
Yet the train runs on and on
Past the place they found his clothing
There's no mistake
I smell that smell
It's that time of year again
I can taste the air
The clocks go back
Railway track
Something blocks the line again
And the train runs late for the first time today
And all the friends lay down the flowers
Sit on the banks and drink for hours
Talk of the way they saw him last
Local boy in the photograph... today
He's gone away
05 Traffic (04:54)
We all face the same way
Still it takes all day
I take a look to my left, pick out the worst and the best
She paints her lip, greasy and thick
Another mirror stare, and she's going where?
Another office affair, to kill an unborn scare?
You talk dirty to a priest?It makes them human at least
But is she running away, to start a brand new day?
Or is she going home? Why's she driving alone?
Is anyone going anywhere?
Everyone's gotta be somewhere
She got a body in the boot, or just bags full of food?
Those are model's legs, but are they women's are they men's?
She shouts down the phone, missed a payment on the loan
She gotta be above the rest, keeping up with the best
Is anyone going anywhere?
Everyone's gotta be somewhere
Waits tables for a crook?
Wrote a hardback book?
You teach kids how to read?
Or sell your body on the street?
A nurse without a job?
Another uptown snob?
But have I got you all wrong?
One look and you were gone
Is anyone going anywhere? X 3
Everyone's gotta be somewhere
07 Check My Eyelids for Holes (02:43)
I gotta lose weight, I, I swallow honey
Is my stand up show, still, still, still that funny
Am I back for good?
I said that I, said that I would be
She's down waist low trying to make me happy
Because I like watching you.
It's time I tried, gotta check my, check my eyelids, check for holes
It's time I tried, gotta check my, check my eyelids, check for holes.
Two weeks late I, I, I gotta test for babies, shop take is falling low.
I'm not going back, back to the factories, because I like what I do
It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes
It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes
It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes
It's time I tried, tried to check my, check my eyelids, check for holes
It's time I tried,
It's time I tried,
It's time I tried,
It's time I tried,
It's time I tried,
It's time I tried,
It's time I tried to check my lids for holes
10 Goldfish Bowl (03:02)
Same long faces in the work-mans hall,
Caramel Crisp counts his birds,
Cliff Chips lines up his dominoes,
Kingfisher lead singer calms his nerves
I'm drinking, sinking, swimming,
I'm drowning, working, smirking, learning,
I'm burning, sleeping, thieving, cheating,
Beating, I'm eating, I'm deep in a goldfish bowl,
It's sink or swim
The hall down town just burnt to the ground,
My boxing ring turned to ash,
Red-head, ginger bread, sells tickets at the door,
Stella sleep walks in the sand
I'm drinking, sinking, swimming,
I'm drowning, working, smirking, learning,
I'm burning, sleeping, thieving, cheating,
Beating, I'm eating, I'm deep in a goldfish bowl,
It's sink or swim,
Looking in, They're looking in
Hard up, outta luck, time to ride the village bike,
A bike been used ten times or more,
Grape vine, here's the wife, lays down her royal flush,
I think I've lost another wife
I'm drinking, sinking, swimming,
I'm drowning, working, smirking, learning,
I'm burning, sleeping, thieving, cheating,
Beating, I'm eating, I'm deep in a goldfish bowl,
It's sink or swim,
They're looking in, its sink or swim
11 Too Many Sandwiches (05:03)
Shopping spree for the family tree,
Haven't seen your family tree in quite a while!
Too many sandwiches and wine,
Sherry stains down your best mans tie,
What a speech.
The band arrives, the granny's cry,
Singers tongue's in the barmaids mouth,
What a voice.
Grandpa drunk a drop or two,
His heads still stuck in the portaloo,
What a man.
You bought a sequin dress for your chicken breast,
The disco's late and he's overpaid tonight,
You got a diamond ring,
And the man who sings,
The man who sings made love to the barmaid twice,
And that's just tonight
The blue rinsed hairs lift up the chairs,
The bands too loud they're off down stairs,
What a noise.
The bride and groom they dance their dance,
And the singer mimes "there's still a chance",
The barmaid smiles
You bought a sequin dress for your chicken breast,
The disco's late and he's overpaid tonight,
You got a diamond ring,
And the man who sings,
The man who sings made love to the barmaid twice,
And that's just tonight
You bought a sequin dress for your chicken breast,
The disco's late and he's overpaid tonight,
You got a diamond ring,
And the man who sings,
The man who sings made love to the barmaid twice,
Ha! Grandpa drunk a drop or two,
His heads still stuck in the portaloo again!
The bride and groom they dance their dance.
The singer mimes "there's still a chance tonight"
and the barmaid smiles.
12 Billy Davey's Daughter (03:45)
I never knew her name
I only knew her fame
She lived near my town
Another goldfish to drown
Well I just past the bridge
That parts us from them
The bridge that she used
Again and again
Again
I remember when they found her
Billy Davey's daughter
The word gets around
Billy Davey's second daughter
Threw herself to dirty water
Billy's left with nothing but a dream
He dreams ...
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Other reviews
By GrantNicholas
Jones interprets every single syllable with incredible skill and passion, as if every note performed were the last.
One of the most beautiful debuts of the late nineties, this 'Word Gets Around,' highly recommended for anyone who wants to get an idea of Jones and company’s (good) music.
