We’re slap bang in the middle of the ‘00s. I was nineteen, in my second year at university, and out at the dancing three or four times a week…
Dakota, by Stereophonics (their 1st and only #1)
1 week, from 6th – 13th March 2005
Before you fear that I’ll turn this post into a nostalgia-fest, and start banging on about blue WKDs and skinny jeans, I’m getting to a salient point. A lot of the music I heard on those nights out wasn’t just the pop and dance we’ve been hearing in recent posts. It was, as the Killers sang, indie rock and roll for me.
So ‘Dakota’ is a mini landmark number one, as it is the first chart-topper from the mid-00s indie revival. Think Franz Ferdinand, think Arctic Monkeys, think Kaiser Chiefs, Libertines, the Strokes, White Stripes and more. Like Britpop a decade earlier, it didn’t get a whole lot of representation at the very top of the charts, but there will at least be a few more rocking #1s in the coming months, and that is something to celebrate after the very pop-heavy opening years of the 21st century.
Of course, Stereophonics predated all these new-kid-on-the-block indie acts. You could class them as Britpop, but they weren’t that either. They emerged during that post-Britpop comedown that also gave us Travis, and Coldplay (a period Alan McGee famously dubbed ‘bedwetter indie’). They were probably overdue a number one single, as Britain’s pre-eminent rock group of the very early ‘00s.
But for this comeback single they were tapping into the sounds of the time, taking a step away from their usual pub rock anthems. ‘Dakota’ sounds like the Killers, with its synth stabs, crossed with U2 in the humungous chorus, and some Manics in the spiky guitars. It’s a big tune, clearly written for tens of thousands to sing along to in stadiums, and while I liked it at the time I’m finding it a bit plodding now.
The chord progression in the chorus is still good, and the thrashing I don’t know where we are going… break is still impressively heavy. But I’ve always had mixed feelings about Stereophonics. For every song of theirs I like – the bitchy ‘Mr Writer’, for example – there’s a song I find bloated and dull – i.e. ‘Just Looking’. And Kelly Jones’ sandpaper drawl is a voice I can only take for three songs at a time.
I also think ‘Dakota’ is a bit of an inferior retread of Stereophonics’ previous single, ‘Moviestar’ – a slinkier, more sinister slice of electro-rock. But, this is the record that brought them a belated #1 after nine earlier Top 10 hits. And it was their chart peak, after a very slow ascent, and they have never returned to the Top 10 since.
But hey, at least they kicked off the ‘mid-00s indie rock revival’. Not quite as catchy a genre title as ‘punk’ or ‘glam’, but still. It was probably rock music’s very last hurrah as a chart force. And I may be biased, as it was the soundtrack to my yoof, but it also gave us some great tunes. Not ‘Dakota’, not quite, but there’s better to come soon.
The UK Number Ones Blog 
Never heard of these guys before, and if I did, I don’t recall. It’s a decent pop rock song that sounds more like ’90s to my ears. The U2 comparison is fair.
I’m not super well versed with the Stereophonics, but I have listened to several albums including the one this song is from and I really enjoy what I’ve heard. I think Kelly Jones is a good singer and a really good songwriter. I’m pretty sure they’re one of the few post-1993 bands that Noel Gallagher that openly praised and liked (Oasis and Stereophonics even did a cover of “I’m Only Sleeping” by The Beatles with Kelly Jones doing lead vocals, but man, I’d love to hear Liam singing that song). Here in Australia, Stereophonics aren’t super well known, but they definitely have fans. Definitely way more than the US where they’re very unknown.
This is a good song. I quite enjoy it. I can’t imagine The Killers – who are one of my all-time favourites bands and were getting really big at this time especially in the UK with the Hot Fuss album and the UK National Anthem “Mr. Brightside” – were not a big influence on this song and the album Language. Sex. Violence. Other? + U2 of course (because in the end, every band becomes U2, you either die a hero or you live long enough to become U2, as Harvey Dent said in The Dark Knight, I think).
It is somewhat frustrating that it was Stereophonics doing the Killers that gave ’00s indie its first number one single, not the Killers themselves. But that’s often the way with music, or fashion, or any art form really, when new things need repackaged in an accessible way to become popular. Still, the Killers were huge at this time with Hot Fuss, ultimately a much bigger and better album than Language, Sex, Violence, Other?
I can see why Oasis liked Stereophonics. I do like quite a few of their singles, but at times they could be a bit ‘meat and potatoes’. And Kelly Jones always felt a little like a poor man’s Liam, both with the voice and the tendency to say stupid things.
I quite liked that comeback era for guitars around 2005. Some great singles. Bedwetter indie is a great description for Coldplay.
Yes, I was 18-21 around the time of this indie comeback and loved it. But sadly not much representation of it on top of the charts, as is often the way with cool trends…
Dawn of The First Day
4 Reviews Left (Until Crazy Frog)
It’s the next one up for me to write about (I always keep a few #1s ahead) and I’m… excited?
I bought Hot Fuss early on, in Orlando of all places, “good choice” approved the cool record store owner for a band that meant little in the USA and had only just broke 2 singles in the UK. Kaiser Chiefs, Franz F, Strokes all producing exciting music, and let’s not forget Indie adjacent 70’s retreads like Scissor Sisters as we adopted US bands that couldnt break through at home, the UK music scene was Buzzin’ while the US music scene was less thrilling. And Dakota was part of the buzz, not a huge fan of Stereophonics, seen them twice by this time and liked quite a few of their singles, but also disliked quite a few and only really loved one or two, until this one – their best record by some distance for me and still exciting, it seems pretty well regarded still, and is often hovering close to the lower end of the streaming charts or getting radio plays, or getting a dowbload boost here and there.
Kelly’s been spreading his wings into other projects in recent years, notably the very listenable Far From Saints, who are pretty good, and Kelly still seems to have a painting in his attic looks-wise!
I do wonder if I view this mid 00s period so highly because it coincided with my uni days, or if it was a really good time for indie/rock music. Rose tinted spectacles aside, I do think many of the bands stood the test of time, and I still listen to and keep up with many of them to this day.
I dont view that era with rose-tinted spectacles (far from that, it was a tough time for me), so I can support your view that it was a good time for indie/rock music 🙂 Yay!
I was born in ’99 so too young to experience that era firsthand and that period in the mid-2000s just a really good period for indie rock music. Not a great period for more mainstream rock (this was when Nickelback was dominating mainstream rock – and I actually looked at their UK Singles Chart performance and their album sales and they were quite popular in the UK as well, you guys didn’t escape them unlike the US or even us Aussies), but a fantastic period for more alternative and indie rock and roll.
Because I’m not familiar with either, I mix them up with Stereolab
Both from the 90s, I guess, but both very different…
And controversially, this was the first number one on the Radio 1 chart show when JK and Joel took over…
Oh god I had blocked that memory out. They got on my wick.