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A bright new noise in U.K. alternative rock in the '90s and into the new millennium, Stereophonics are comprised of vocalist/guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist Richard Jones, and drummer Stuart Cable (until the latter's replacement by Javier Weyler). They were formed in Cwmaman, South Wales, originally as the teenage cover band Tragic Love Company. Early reviews cited the Manic Street Preachers as their most obvious influence, and their initial batch of singles struggled to disabuse cynics of this notion. Yet in Jones, Stereophonics possess an able writer as well as a singer of some distinction, a fact that was only truly acknowledged following the release of their debut LP. One of the first bands on Richard Branson's new V2 label, they were signed by chief executive Jeremy Pearce in August 1996 before the label was officially up and running. They made their debut in November with "Looks Like Chaplin" b/w "More Life in a Tramp's Vest," which later became a single in its own right. They e...