Stars Of CCTV

04/10/2006 10:00 PM, LAUNCH
Rob O'Connor

Their debut album has already been a #1 in the U.K. and they’ve been nominated for several awards as one of Britain’s most promising new bands. How the band’s success will translate on the fickle shores of alien lands remains to be seen, but this likable foursome from Staines, England – a town that Hard-Fi singer Richard Archer seems less than impressed with – have put their best musical foot forward for Stars Of CCTV, initially a self-released, lo-budget production that sold out of its limited press run and has finally seen release in the U.S. Elements of punk, dub, goth, power pop will seem immediately familiar to anyone schooled in the experimental reaches of the Clash–making the band an immediate comfortable fit. Only a hardened cynic couldn’t enjoy the pure pleasures of “Cash Machine” and “Tied Up Too Tight,” the album’s deserving singles. Considering their thrifty upbringing, Hard-Fi milk what should be a limited guitar-bass-drum schematic to much grander, aurally thrilling heights.