Stereophonics

As straightforward a rock band as has ever screamed "How's everybody feel?" to a packed stadium, Stereophonics glommed onto all the boozed-up rock laddishness of Britpop but tossed the genre's more reflective, wistful pop aspects -- think Oasis minus the John Lennon fixation and effortless melodies. The formula has sold them millions of records in the UK, but, strangely for such an American-sounding band, they're still on the quixotic quest to crack the states, playing little-ish rooms like the Bottleneck when they could be enrapturing a festival audience in Denmark. Maybe this year's Language, Sex, Violence, Other will do the trick, with its trendy, grafted-on new-wave touches of "Dakota" and the sleazy superhero comedy tune "Superman." But even if Stereophonics' stateside audience never reaches Oasis-like (or even Jet-like) proportions, all signs indicate that the group will be a dependable source of melodic guitar roar well into the future. Somebody has to be, right?