Confident yet not overbearing, Stars of CCTV is sharp indie rock with a tasteful pop sheen and the biggest choruses since the second Oasis album. Although you can hear some of the influences in their music (the Clash, the Kinks, the Jam), there’s a sense that what the band have created here transcend their influences; the album has a fresh quality that doesn’t sound like it was manufactured in an executive’s office.
“Cash Machine,” the lead U.S. single, opens the album. Featuring some melodica work that would do Damon Albarn proud, “Cash Machine” stands as a superb, hard-edged pop song that’s about needing money and being a cog in the machine. Yes, a pop song that’s actually about something. You gotta love it. There’s elegance to the way they’ve bottled their message in such a catchy song.
Incorporating thoughtful lyrics into what would otherwise be simply be absurdly catchy punk-infused rock songs is a practice to which Hard-Fi adhere. “Middle Eastern Holiday,” perhaps the most overtly Clash-like song on the album, with its screeching guitars and dub-infused production, is a song written from the point of view of a young uncertain soldier. It’s not as overtly political as one might think, given the title, and it’s refreshing to see that even when the band turns the amps up to 11, they still know how to make use of subtlety.
I was able to catch Hard-Fi the other night when they did an in-store at the venerable Amoeba Records in San Francisco. Richard Archer, the frontman, introduced the song “Tied Up Too Tight” by saying, “We’re Hard-Fi and we’re from a town called Staines in West London. This next song is about getting the hell out of there.” Perhaps the quintessential Hard-Fi song (if a band so young is allowed to have a “quintessential” track), “Tied Up Too Tight” has it all, including a Radiohead-ish lead guitar during the verses and a raging and fun punky chorus with harmony vocals from the other band members.
“Hard to Beat,” which will probably be the second U.S. single, is dance-rock song that will have the Killers looking over their shoulders. As best as I can describe, it’s the rebellious lovechild of a Daft Punk and Clash one night stand. It’s worth noting that the U.S. release of Stars of CCTV features an alternate mix of “Hard to Beat” than the UK version. The song is sped up noticeably on the U.S. edition. It doesn’t really matter; the song is still insanely catchy and hummable, and it’s got one of the most invigorating bass lines this side of Feel Good Inc. Other than the new mix of “Hard to Beat,” the U.S. version of the album is virtually identical to the UK release. It would have been nice if the U.S. version came with some bonus tracks.
I’m reminded of Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm, another relatively recent and exceptional British indie rock debut album. This is not because Silent Alarm and Stars of CCTV sound anything alike, but because both albums have virtually no filler to speak of, and just about any song sounds like it has potential to be a hit single. Even the piano ballad on the album, “Move On Now,” has an ethereal quality to it, eschewing weepy sentimentalism for moodiness and ambience. “Better Do Better” simply feels like a song with some real meat to it- it’s a song that reveals new layers of intricacies with each new listen. The title track, which closes out the album, is a mostly acoustic number about living in a dangerous world. With its deliciously ambiguous and subtle imagery, it’s a suitably beautiful way to end the album.
They say the album is a lost art in today’s iTunes-driven world. Hard-Fi has a sharp grasp on how to craft extraordinary singles. At the same time, they successfully use storytelling and snapshots of their lives to create an album that speaks for their lives, and by extension, ours as well.
Ali G should be proud.
"Stars of CCTV" is on sale March 14, 0006 from Atlantic.
