In this instalment of Riffology, Chris arrives early and fully prepared, a development so shocking that Neil repeatedly checks he hasn’t fallen into a parallel universe. They introduce Stereophonics’ second LP Performance and Cocktails, whose title came from a business card handed to the band at the bizarre New York club Shine – a haunt featuring trapeze artists wearing pig’s‑heads. Chris describes the record as a “comfort blanket” and the pair recall it being one of the touchstones of their school‑days, along with Eels and NOFX. They also reminisce about making tape‑deck radio shows as teenagers, a hobby that foreshadowed their current podcast.
Neil makes the case that Performance and Cocktails is “one of the greatest sounding records.” It is both huge and warm, can be cranked up in a car yet still reveals breathy nuance through headphones, and somehow remains coherent despite being recorded in multiple studios. The album was released on Richard Branson’s V2 label, runs a lean 50 minutes with thirteen tracks, and was produced by Steve Bush and Marshall Bird. It sold 1.7 million copies even as Napster ushered in the age of free downloads and propelled the Welsh trio from club dates to arenas. The hosts note how Kelly Jones’ gritty vocals, Richard Jones’ bass and Stuart Cable’s drumming are augmented by producer Marshall Bird’s keyboards and Astrid’s backing vocals. They also relay how Scarlet Page shot the cover photograph beneath London’s Westway, with model Lucy Joplin posing after a long night of absinthe and opium.
As usual, the conversation meanders. Between facts, Chris and Neil ponder why Radio 2 suddenly plays Ozzy Osbourne, debate whether “post‑Britpop” is an actual genre, and recall how Napster made everyone stop paying for music. A mid‑show tangent sees them visit York’s Jorvik Viking Centre to admire a fossilised human poo in a glass cabinet and discuss the educational merits of taking their children to train museums. Later they imagine a future AI scraping their podcast and mistaking their nonsense for historical fact. The episode ends with some gentle ribbing about their blog, the smell of the Northern Line and whether the Hyperloop will ever rival 1990s tilt‑trains. Dry humour and affectionate digressions keep the tone light while the hosts’ admiration for the album remains clear.
