Hard-Fi

Hard-Fi

Stars of CCTV (Atlantic)

They come from a town called Staines, which is better than Malice, but not as fascinatingly dreary as The Office's headquarters in Slough. Still, there's the taste of a grimy industrial backwater, chip stains, and grease that won't come out in the bath no matter if you called your dad or no. Having picked up nominations both for Best British Group and Best British Rock Act at this year's Brit Awards, Hard-Fi got knocked out twice by the Kaiser Chiefs. No matter: Stars of CCTV is a better, more consistently powerful album that fuses the chavvy charm of working-class Britain to a stream of anthemic, pure pop melodies in the service of pissed and pissed-off youth worldwide (with a direct line to classic Who, no less). Get surveilled in shops just 'cause you're wearing a hoodie? Hard-Fi feels your pain (and nicked a packet of Pamprin for you on their way out the door), and football terrace chanter "Feltham Is Singing Out" is your new theme song. Loathe your job? The slick dance-floor hooliganism of "Living for the Weekend" gives you permission to torch the office and spend the night blissed out on a dingy dance floor, awash in pills, lager, and fat, fatty, fattest beats galore. Screw the Brits. This is the real deal.