Ah yeah, straight out of nowhere-ness, like a fist, can't resist ya...

God bless Q magazine. Otherwise I wouldn't know about gems like Hard-Fi's Stars Of CCTV. Pretty much unknown in the US, this thoroughly English rock band is miles ahead of even hip bands like the Libertines and the Kaiser Chiefs. Combining punky brat licks with funky almost-disco highlights, Stars is a all-round great listen for those pining for the next answer to Blur and the like.

The set starts out with "Cash Machine", a poor-boy-with-a-problem lament that has a killer bass line that wouldn't be out of place in a Bowie or a Blondie set. "Middle Eastern Holiday" shows of Hard-Fi's punk leaning's, while offering a subtle jab at the Iraq war from the view of a hapless kid sent off to the desert. After that, "Tied Up Too Tight" is a classic Britpop tune that makes you wanna get up and dance without being "dancy". That attitude continues with "Gotta Reason", then leads to the highlight track, the ultra-cool "Hard To Beat", both seemingly giving an everyman's night out looking for love. In fact, "Hard To Beat" sounds a lot like a Daft Punk song, I can imagine what a remix by them would be like. "Living For The Weekend" comes even closer, with string-like backgrounds filling in the spaces from the guitar hooks. The rest of the album keeps the pace, with only "Feltham Is Singing Out" being a little to British to crossover. But on all the most noticable part is a killer bass hook all around.

All in all Stars Of CCTV deserved its place in the top 10 albums of 2005 by Q magazine. For fans of rock music that actually appreciate a groove and melodies, you can't go wrong here.

Grade: B+
Best Cuts: "Cash Machine", "Tied Up Too Tight", "Hard To Beat"
Weakest Link: "Feltham Is Singing Out"

Stars Of CCTV hit #1 on the UK albums chart.
"Tied Up Too Tight/Middle Eastern Holiday" made #15 on the UK Singles chart.
"Hard To Beat" hit #9 on the UK Singles chart, and #34 on the US Modern Rock Chart.
"Living For The Weekend" made #15 on the UK singles chart.
"Cash Machine" hit #14 in the UK, and #15 on the US Modern Rock chart.
"Better Do Better" made #14 in the UK.

You can buy Stars Of CCTV at sites like here and here.

If you wanna hear the track "Living For The Weekend", you can click here to download (right-click to bring up a new window).

And here's the video of the highlight song on here, "Hard To Beat"...