Reviews
Hard-Fi
Stars Of CCTV
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Add to del.ico.us.Review Date: 2006-02-28
There’s lot of that very similar dance-rock stuff coming out of Britain at the moment. Bands like Maxïmo Park, The Futureheads, The Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party spring to mind immediately. Hell, even The Arctic Monkey have that dance feel to them. This post-britpop wave is really starting to grate me. I personally dislike The Kaiser Chiefs only because they were the last one of the aforementioned bands I checked out and I was starting to get sick of the same similar sound. Well wouldn’t you know it, Hard-Fi are another one of these types of bands but more in the synthesiser/disco vein like Bloc Party, who I absolutely love.
Hard-Fi, like The Arctic Monkeys, seem to mostly comment on everyday life in their lyrics. I don’t really care for knowing all the ins and outs for every lyric in every song because, really, all you need to know is they make social comments about life in Britain. Their debut album Stars Of CCTV was originally only 6 track EP but after securing a recording contract with Atlantic Records they re-recorded their album and extended it by 5 songs.
The album starts with the track “Cash Machine”. Obviously it’s about the band (or the lead singer, whatever) trying to make ends meet. You didn’t really need me to tell you that, it’s blatantly obvious if you listen to the song, but hey, I like to keep the slower ones amoung us up to speed. Anyway, back to the song. It’s a solid start and really typical of Hard-Fi’s overall style of a pounding drum beat and various other instruments that I couldn’t name for you.
What I really like about this album is the fact that when they were signed to Atlantic Records they didn’t go and record all their songs so they were squeaky clean. Instead they recorded the whole thing at a cab office, the same place they recorded the original 6 track EP. This rougher sounds gives the album a really nice character and spices up the otherwise bland “Middle Eastern Holiday”.
Track 3, “Tied Up Too Tight”, would have to be one of my favourite tracks on the album. It has this weird synthesiser sound in the background which kinda sounds like an electronic violin, if there is such a thing. It doesn’t really matter what it is. All I need to know is that it sounds awesome. Add to that a catchy chorus and this is one song that really gets stuck in your head.
Similar upbeat tracks like “Gotta Reason”, “Hard To Beat” and “Unnecessary Trouble” follow. It’s just one of those album that makes me want to dance. Luckily for you, this review doesn’t come with video footage of my “interesting” dance manoeuvres. It’s not a pretty site I assure you.
If I was to sum up Hard-Fi’s sound in one word it would be “fun”. “Move On Now” is Hard-Fi’s attempt at a ballad and it doesn’t really come off very well. You’re kinda just waiting for the track to explode in a burst of energy but it just doesn’t happen. The repetitive nature of the song starts to get quite annoying buy the end of it. No dancing for me on this track.
Fortunately Hard-Fi are back to what they do best with the next few tracks. Lots of energy and lots of fun. The penultimate track, another of my favourites, “Living For The Weekend” is bursting with energy, even moreso than the rest of the album. The start of the track sounds like a dance song and is accompanied with what I would guess are violins, don’t take my word for it though. It, again, has an impossibly catchy chorus but has very upbeat and energetic verses too.
Bands like to end albums with acoustic tracks don’t they? These tracks generally suck. Fortunately for Hard-Fi their acoustic finisher, the title track, “Stars Of CCTV”, is actually quite good. Dare I say my favourite song on the album. It retains the energy and interesting instruments but it’s more of a polished song. The vocals are pretty awesome too, how do guys get their voices so high?
Songs to download: “Stars Of CCTV”, “Living For The Weekend”, “Tied Up Too Tight” and “Cash Machine”
Score: 7.9
The only real reason that stopped this from cracking 8 was the fact that I can see this wearing thin reasonably quickly. Still, a pretty good album albeit nothing we haven’t heard before. If you’re hanging out for the new Bloc Party album and need a quick fix this may just be the album for you. Otherwise my advice would be stick to Bloc Party.
- Will