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(Stylus/Ignition)Kelly Jones’ band revive their trusty formula, making songs that at their best hit the sweet spot between emotional and anthemicFor their 25th anniversary, Stereophonics were all set to compile a second greatest hits collection until singer Kelly Jones rummaged in his archive and found several unused old songs to contribute to a new album. Thus, Oochya! offers an occasionally uneven mix of their trusty hit formula (equal bits of the Faces and Oasis with a smidgeon of U2) and some newer mild diversions.Among the latter are raucous opener Hanging on Your Hinges – a spikier take on ZZ Top – and the candidly autobiographical Right Place Right Time, which adds a nostalgic colliery brass band sound to Jones’s reflections on the highs and lows of a life in rock. Otherwise Jones’s lyrical concerns mostly concern relationships, hope and a prevailing desire for escape – and at 15 tracks long, the cliches creep in. In the lovely Forever, Jones dreams of a flight away from all his troubles; he does the same in the equally tuneful When You See It. The Free-like Running Round My Brain is 1970s rock by numbers and filler such as Made a Mess of Me should have been left on the cutting-room floor. Continue reading...