Hard-Fi - Stars Of CCTV (CD 2005)

The debut album from Middlesex’s Hard-Fi consciously sets out to update the sense of frustrated tension and suburban dread that powered second-wave ska acts like The Specials and The Beat back at the close of the ‘70s.
Don’t get it twisted, this isn’t ska-punk a la Brit troupers [Spunge] and Capdown: Hard-Fi play this music lean and moody, like The Streets on downers, or Massive Attack plugging in and tuning up. "Cash Machine" sees a swallowed debit card as the jump-off for vocalist Richard Archer to spin a tale of crushing poverty and unwanted pregnancy, spurred along by thrumming dub bass and the sad wheeze of a vibraphone. They do upbeat as well, as club anthem "Hard To Beat"--a heart-fluttering composite of Northern Soul elation and fist-pumping Rockers reggae--joyfully confirms. But it’s the emotional struggle, the ups and downs of life, that keeps Stars Of CCTV engaging throughout: see penultimate track "Living For The Weekend", a hedonistic blast filled with not a little of the passion that fuelled Oasis' Definitely Maybe, which succeeds chiefly because it’s all too aware of the bad times as well as the good.

Stars Of CCTV is the debut album from Surrey-based Indie rockers Hard-Fi. Fusing together a host of influences, including Happy Mondays-esque baggy, sun kissed Ibizan grooves and even classic two-tone ska, Hard-Fi have crafted an album that buzzes with raw energy and enthusiasm, celebrating the best of British pop culture. Includes the singles 'Cash Machine', 'Tied Up Too Tight' and 'Hard To Beat'. Warner. 2005.