STONE - Fear Life For A Lifetime

The consistent line that runs through ‘Fear Life For A Lifetime’ comes via STONE having one foot firmly in the pre-streaming era; sonically, the album seems to barely notice anything released beyond about 2005. The first half of it sees the Merseysiders find a groove that, although far more polished than their presence on their ‘punkadonk’ EPs, really suits them: as the spoken-word opening title track introduces the record with equal homage to Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Sunscreen’ and Primal Scream’s ‘Loaded’. The post-Britpop indie that’s sometimes later Oasis in style (‘My Thoughts Go’), other times early Robbie Williams (‘Roses’) offers a confident, punchy presence that’s more a continuation of their predecessors than in thrall. The jangly ‘Say It Out Loud’ and darker stream-of-consciousness ‘Train’, while differing in style, also impress, the latter’s social anxiety expressed as well musically as lyrically. 

But the record is let down somewhat by a patchy final few: the listed intoxicants of ‘Save Me’ creates what sounds like a fresher’s take on ‘Feel Good Hit Of The Summer’; ‘Never Gonna Die’ is less indebted to Kasabian than a wholesale recreation of; and while the noodly Bloc Party-esque guitars that trickle along ‘Hotel’ are pleasant enough, the acoustic-led ‘Save Yourself’ then feels tacked on, the indie rock cliché of ending a record on a token slow number becoming perilously close to a box-ticking exercise. Still, when it’s good, it’s great, and ultimately for the most part continues to show the band as exciting still-newcomers.