Rating:

(Necessary/Atlantic, 2006) As it does with most albums, NME named Hard-Fi’s Stars of CCTV “album of the year” when it was first released in England last year. The album went on to get a Mercury nomination, among other accolades. Stars of CCTV finally dropped in the US in March of this year, and while it hasn’t blown up like Franz Ferdinand or Bloc Party, it’s still gotten good press. And you know what? It deserves every bit (well, maybe not album of the year…) it’s gotten, because Hard-Fi have made a damn good debut album. It’s not revolutionary, but it’s a very catchy, exciting post-punk record. The easiest comparison is probably the aforementioned Bloc Party. But where Bloc Party augmented their Clash and Gang of Four fixations with U2, Hard-Fi seem to prefer bits of Blur and Daft Punk. Stars of CCTV is also solid throughout, with nary a weak track to be found. The throbbing basslines and synth-aided chorus of “Cash Machine,” a song about money problems and unexpected pregnancy, are a great kickoff to the album. Hailing from London suburb of Staines (shout out to Ali G!), and growing up in Tony Blair-era England, the young foursome is well acquainted with the boredom of small town life and its challenges. The band follows that superb opener with the politically charged rocker “Middle Easter Holiday,” a commentary on the toll of the war in Iraq. Shortly thereafter is the highlight of the album, “Hard To Beat,” a ridiculously catchy dance song about laying some game on the honeys at the club. “Move On Now” is an excellent Ben Folds-esque piano ballad for the first three and a half minutes, until some low key drums and a lonely trumpet fill out the arrangement a bit. “Better Do Better” is a bitter screed against an ex-girlfriend, which finds lead singer Richard Archer telling someone “You think I’m gonna take you back / You’d better do better than that” in the choruses. Later, “Living For The Weekend” is a song about exactly what the name implies. The hooky distorted bass in the chorus is great support for the lyrics about enjoying your time off after a hard 40 hours at work. Ending the album is its spiritual centerpiece and title track, “Stars of CCTV,” an allusion to the prevalent closed-circuiit television cameras in London, which are intended to deter crime, but obviously have the unintended effect of catching much more mundance occurences. As Archer sings “I’m going out tonight / I’ve got my hair just right / I’m always looking good / For the spotlight,” it’s a reminder that in modern London, nobody is ever really alone when Big Brother is looking on. It’s not a paranoid anthem, just a friendly reminder, and an appropriate final note to the album. Overall, though Stars of CCTV does touch on some issues affecting today’s world, it’s not an overtly political album like Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm. It’s just an enjoyable post-punk/new wave rock album, a pleasing product of the times.

* 1. Cash Machine

  2. Middle Eastern Holiday

  3. Tied Up Too Tight

  4. Gotta Reason

* 5. Hard To Beat

  6. Unnecessary Trouble

  7. Move On Now

* 8. Better Do Better

  9. Feltham Is Singing Out

*10. Living For The Weekend

 11. Stars of CCTV

* = recommended tracks

Buy album

– Kevin

This 4-beetsreview was posted on May 10th, 2006. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.