Stars of CCTV Hard-Fi

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CD

  • Release Date: 01/13/2008
  • Original Release: 2006
  • Sales Rank: 162,473
  • Label: ATLANTIC UK
  • UPC: 5050467869127

Listener Rating: (3 ratings)

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CD$11.49
 
  • Overview
  • Tracks
  • Editorial Reviews
  • Customer Reviews
  • Details & Credits
Track List
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Stars of CCTV

1LISTENCash Machine 3:42
2LISTENMiddle Eastern Holiday 3:44
3LISTENTied Up Too Tight 4:48
4LISTENGotta Reason 2:49
5LISTENHard to Beat 4:13
6LISTENUnnecessary Trouble 3:44
7LISTENMove on Now 5:07
8LISTENBetter Do Better 4:37
9LISTENFeltham Is Singing Out 4:36
10LISTENLiving for the Weekend 3:42
11LISTENStars of CCTV 3:58

About this Artist

Editorial Reviews

Naturally, NME called Hard-Fi's debut album, Stars of CCTV, "the album of the year" upon its U.K. release in 2005. A year later, the Staines, England, foursome had a Mercury Music Prize nomination under its belt as well as two Brit Awards nods and a U.K. number one album. Those following the buzz on the other side of the Atlantic finally got their wish with the domestic release of Stars of CCTV in mid-March. With the popularity of Franz Ferdinand, Kasabian, and The Kaiser Chiefs simmering down around this time, Hard-Fi stepped into the American pop conscience when they were supposed to. While their spark and spunk are near matches of those aforementioned acts, Hard-Fi delivers more of an angst kind of performance. Frontman Richard Archer is fueled by Tony Blair's England. After all, these are four friends from a southwest London town. They sound like a garage band while delving into the monotony of everyday suburban life, referring to their small town upbringing. Thus a raw kind of work ethic gradually emerges on Stars of CCTV. Their formula of snappy choruses and tight guitar hooks, particularly on "Middle Eastern Holiday" and "Gotta Reason," captures Hard-Fi's youthful presentation. Archer's boyish vocals switch off between gritty and playful. If "Living for the Weekend" does not convince you of Hard-Fi's anxious effort in getting you to ease up on the ho-hum of working for a living, the fresh disco beats of "Hard to Beat" surely will. Hard-Fi's desire to create something solid enjoyable in the midst of everyday monotony is what makes Stars of CCTV an enjoyable first effort. Whether they are singing about having little money, unexpected pregnancy ("Cash Machine"), or a war-torn world ("Feltham's Singing Out"), Hard-Fi looks for something positive. Stars of CCTV offers a reason to look for something positive, too. MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide

Customer Reviews

Stars of CCTVby Anonymous

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April 19, 2006: Stars of CCTV went to # 1 in England and for good reason. The songs on the album are about real people dealing with real issues, but, at the same time, have excellent melodies, "Better do Better," and tight guitar hooks, "Gotta Reason." Lead singer Richard Archer also uses the melodica effectively, as in the opening of "Cash Machine." Musically, Hard-Fi are influenced by reggae, dub, dance and punk. "Cash Machine" echoes the Clash during their Combat Rock and Sandinista! period. The members of Hard-Fi, hail from Staines, England, a working-class suburb of West London. Their experiences in Staines, a railroad town, manifest themselves in their lyrics that relate issues of everyday people. The opening track "Cash Machine" deals with being broke and down on your luck. In the opening lines of the song Archer goes to an ATM machine only to find out there’s no money in his account and personifies the ATM which then tells him: “… ‘don't make plans’/ ‘you're broke.’” However Archer is convinced there is an error: “No, no this can't be right/I know that time is tight/ I've only just been paid.” "Living for the Weekend" narrates the stress of a 40 hour week and the pressure of everyday life. Yet, the song’s philosophy is that life is about living for the weekend, where you work hard for five days and squander all your money in 2 days. Then there is "Middle Eastern Holiday” where the band comments on the cost of the war on Iraq. It pays homage to the Dead Kennedy's "Holiday in Cambodia" and updates it. “Middle Eastern Holiday” tells the story of a soldier going off to fight in Iraq. The lyrics paint a contrastive image of a war setting: "Where bullet holes scar the minarets / smoke on the horizon, a beautiful sunset." Yet, the young soldier knows the reality of war and surviving it: "Give me a gun / I hope I see my mum again." Hard-Fi has the knack for creatively mixing dance beats with guitar riffs. “Gotta Reason” whose angular guitar riff, ala Artic Monkeys’ “Fake tales of San Francisco,” drives the song into dance groove nirvana. The best track has to be "Hard to Beat" which mixes dance with syncopated guitar chords effectively and is overly infectious that it will make one boldly dance at the clubs. Archer sings about the excitement of meeting someone at the dance clubs. "Better do Better" shows off Hard-Fi's dub influences. Yet it is an emotional and gut wrenching performance by lead singer Richard Archer who has to deal with someone who has deceived him. He’s been cheated on by his girlfriend, but she wants to comeback into his life. However, Archer replies in the chorus: “You think I'm gonna take you back!/You'd better do better than that/I'll tell ya how its gonna be/Don't you never ever come near me.” The title track of the album "Stars of CCTV" makes light of the closed-circuit televisions (CCTV) cameras that are prominent throughout public places in England. The purpose of CCTV is to deter crime, but Archer, knowing that a CCTV camera will capture him in public, sings: “I'm going out tonight / I've got my hair just right / I'm always looking good / For the spotlight.” "Stars of CCTV" is an absolute gem of an album. It's...

This review was written about the CD edition.

Stars of CCTVby Anonymous

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March 29, 2006: Stars of CCTV by Hard-Fi is an insanely catchy, extremely good first album. I know in this day and age we anoint the next Beatles on a weekly basis, but there's something about this band (OK, I know a lot of people will say this is sacrilege, especially since Hard-Fi is so derivative). I won't get analytical here... I'll just say, stick it in the cd player and turn up the volume. And, oh yeah, put on your dancing shoes. This is a DANCE BAND. But there's also a grit and gusto there that's real. Buy it, promote it, love it, live it.

This review was written about the CD edition.


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