Stars of CCTV - Hard Fi

I really didn't know what to expect when I got this album. I had heard a track and knew that I liked it but really wasn't sure if it would be my kind of thing or not. Within one listen I was hooked and it has earned it's rightful place as an album I just can't get enough of, coming back to it again and again.

Hard Fi are constantly compared to bands like The Clash, The Specials and The Streets and I can see why but that doesn't explain why this album is so special. A complete fusion of rock, pop, ska and some cracking base lines all get jumbled up to make an album that is diverse and infectious. These guys are telling the story of what it is like to be part of the binge drinking inner city youth culture of today. Nothing new in the music world, complaining about where you are from, but the guys seem to do it with a certain flair. Listening to Cash Machine and Stars of CCTV is like looking back into my not so distant past and perhaps that is why I like it so much.

The album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize this year which I think is fantastic for an album that cost £300 to make in a disused taxi office in Staines. You wouldn't know it though as every track shines in it's own way and together this is just a fantastic debut. My only hope is that their rise to fame doesn't affect their second album too much.

Super Extra Gravity - The Cardigans

The Cardigans are at a strange point in their career. They followed up their global smash hit LoveFool with back-to-back winners My Favourite Mistake and Erase/Rewind setting themselves up as the new Swedish supergroup. But always surprising their listeners by continually taking off in different musical directions, they left the upbeat pop styling behind them and went low-key with the critically-championed but commercially-underperforming album Long Gone Before Daylight. In a way this seems to have freed them up, not having to deal with the pressure of having to follow up a success. So now here they are, back with their sixth studio album, this time not straying too far from their previous offering - perhaps a surprise in itself.

This is a strong set of songs, and as with their previous albums I found each song grow on me with repeated listens. A very consistent offering, they've turned from a singles band to one where you know you can trust them to record an excellent album in full. The band have settled into a mid-tempo middle of the road terraine - a path fraught with the danger of falling into a "boring" hole. I think that what lifts this above other artists are the constant barrage of hooks the songs throw at you, and Nina Persson's quirky lyrics - a fine story-teller. The first single, 'I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer' (best song title of the year?) is a chugging rock song that strangely reminds me of Bryan Adams's 'When You're Gone'. Nina's voice, an amazing instrument, has developed nicely and seems to sometimes resemble that of Sheryl Crow. Other stand-out songs include the ballad 'Don't Blame Your Daughter (Diamonds)', the sweet 'Good Morning Joan', a lighter track necessary to pick the album up from some of its darker moments. One of the two bonus tracks 'Give Me Your Eyes' is a fine pop song, and makes you wonder why it didn't make it onto the original version of the album - this would have been a worthy single.

They have perhaps lost some of the sense of fun that was so obvious on their early album Life and on their hit singles and I suspect that the lack of instant pop songs won't get them back to the top of the charts, but that's fine. Pressure's off and they can go about their business making music that they want to make and stretching themselves as a band. The Cardigans remain one of the jewels in the music industry with one of the finest frontpersons. The sonic direction they take from here is anyone's guess.

'Smeared' - Sloan

OK, I'm an indie boy... Incurably so it'd seem, and stuck in a '90s rut it would appear. But this is a fizzing pop gem, and, I think, unfairly ignored.

Sloan hail from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and I think are still going across the Pond, but they didn't make much of an impression over here. They signed to Geffen during the great major label alt-rock feeding frenzy, popped this one and a follow-up out and kind of relaxed into a 70's rock pastiche which they carry on with today. The title alludes to the fact that they made so many mistakes, they had to cover up with tons of effects. The result emerges as what I'd hoped Pet Sounds would have turned out like, scribbled over by My Bloody Valentine. And yeah, under the fizz and squall beats a pure, poppy heart.

Opener 'Underwhelmed' is kind of witty and goofy and laconic. 'I Am The Cancer' belies the bleak title with sweet boy/girl harmonies and a laid-back pop sheen. It's 1992 as hell and I adore it.