I’m only nine years too late on this one. NINE YEARS. That has to be some kind of record, right? Anyway, for those blissfully unaware of the genius of The Stereo, here’s the skinny – the band started out in early 1999 by former ska/punk band frontmen Jamie Woolford (of Animal Chin) and Rory Phillips (of The Impossibles). The pair, each of whom was creating a respective solo album at the time, was brought together by the recommendation of their then record label Fueled by Ramen. The pair got together, wrote this album and then Rory left. Following this release the band had a revolving door policy of band members, wrote two more albums and then broke up. They never really got the acclaim commercially, yet pretty much every band in the ‘scene’ today owes The Stereo a royalty payment. And yes I’m looking at you Fall Out Boy…
‘Three Hundred’ is a genre classic. It’s like Weezer at their poppiest best, but mixed up with all kinds of melodic rock goodness. ‘Devotion’ is probably the best song you’ve never heard, while ‘You’ve Got Some Nerve‘ would be a dancefloor classic had it been released this year. What I love about this album is that you can hear so many contemporary bands within it. Remember this was written in 1999 and then listen to ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’ which blatantly ‘inspired’ Midtown. The vocals clearly influenced Patrick Stump too – you’d be surprised at just how similar they sound.
If you’d just stumbled across this album and didn’t know how old it was you’d rip it to shreds for ‘ripping off’ so many other bands. But then when you realize who it is and when it was released you suddenly recognise just how much of an impact this album had on a generation of songwriters. I can’t believe this band totally passed me by until recently. It’s now a firm favourite and I’m sure there are thousands of PT readers who would feel the same. Get stuck in – this is brilliant.