Stars of CCTV

by

Hard-Fi

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It's been a very long time since someone recommended an album to me,I bought it and thought, "Wow, that's good!" and played it straight through two or three times. This is such an album from a band who recorded a bunch of their own self written tunes, and then had it picked up for release by a major label.There is much more to them than just front man Richard Archer, though he does have a charisma when you get to see them live. All the tracks have well thought out arrangements with subtle but sparse use of other instruments, some piano here, some brass on both "Unnecessary Trouble" and "Better do better" and some (believe it!) cornet on "Move on now". The songs reflect living in the outer London fringes in Mr. Blair's Britain (Staines, actually) with wry observations about life, relationships and not having much money. To have moved someone who nowadays listens mainly to jazz to install it in his CD changer as a fixture is astounding enough, but to then see them live at a venue near me ( The Eden Project) was enough to convince me to go and see them again this fall. They're in Japan in November, and threaten be in the US early next year. If you get the chance go and see and hear them, but as a start buy this and be in at the start of a word-of-mouth bigness. Oh yeah, and play it loud! Whatever next?

While Mike Skinner has been plying his everyman yarns for a few years now, Hard-Fi have emerged to take their place in the distinctly narrow niche of social reality in pop. It would be unfair to simply label the Staines band The Streets with guitars, but they are another mouthpiece for disenchanted white youth in the context of 21st Century Britain.

Hard-Fi have mass appeal for a couple of reasons; firstly who they are, or have presented themselves to be. The grime scene appeals to kids in London because it speaks from their perspective, on their level. UK hip hop has always had its modest but reliable young b-boy fan base. Hard-Fi, however, have wised-up to the fact that they have lived a fairly typical youth and young-manhood in a satellite town of London, their struggles are those of many, and they only need to sing about their lives to strike a chord with many others who identify.

Secondly, like The Clash before them, they incorporate elements of a multitude of influences, particularly from the world of black music, allied with a keen pop sensibility. Reggae, dub, ska and hip hop are all prominent in the mix, along with the dance scene, devotees of which are aptly mythologised in Living For The Weekend.

The anthemic, drive-time choruses of these songs- about little more than being bored, having no money and (courtesy of biggest hit Hard To Beat) chasing girls- propel the album along. Opener Cash Machine deals with having no money, and builds on this basic lyrical premise to form an accomplished piece of relevant, modern music, encapsulating the album as a whole. It packs a decent chorus, a moody, bass-driven groove and even weaves unwanted pregnancy and an interpolated nursery rhyme into its three-and-a-half minutes.

At eleven songs long, it is a compact debut, not weighed down by filler, and has numerous highlights, including all the aforementioned tracks, the atmospheric Tied Up Too Tight, and the surprisingly-effective, piano-led ballad Move On Now.

Title track Stars of CCTV is an appropriately-rousing strum-along to finish the album. The vocal performance is also the best showcased by singer Richard Archer, as he sways brilliantly between cooing and sneering, in line with the tone of the lyrics.

There is little to pick fault at with this debut, but sadly its also too formulaic, with not quite enough dynamism to make it a classic. However, no tracks are particularly weak, save for perhaps the underwhelming cod-reggae of Better Do Better, which can't be rescued by another big chorus. Where the band will go next is a moot point, but there is enough potential here to suggest that they are cut out for great things. Whatever their next step, they shouldn't have to endure those cash machine blues for much longer.