Hard-Fi
Once Upon A Time In The West

THE REVIEW

If in the debut "Stars of CCTV" even the least attentive ear could easily deduce an absolute and total devotion to the classic Clash sound, in this second attempt Hard-Fi opt for a more "canonical" sound and, above all, heavily radio friendly.

Not that the debut wasn't (see the overrated "Cash Machine", which owes its success to a brilliant video more than to a winning melody, or "Hard To Beat", a typical example of what a chart song should be), but here the intention is clear to build an album that follows more a path of assured commercial success than actual musical growth.

Placed at the album's opening, the first great single "Suburban Knights" reiterates the type of sound expressed by H.F. in their first work, but already from subsequent tracks such as the funky "I Shall Overcome" (good) and the pair "Tonight/Watch Me Fall Apart" (two midtempo tracks where the use of strings, rather opportunistic and unnecessary in the sound economy of the pieces, stands out) you can sense the British combo's desire to head towards calmer and safer shores. A stir of vitality comes from unusual tracks like "I Close My Eyes", which would fit well in any recent work by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, or from the new single "Can't Get Along (Without You)", vivid and pleasant.

For the rest, we witness flat and rather pathetic numbers, as well as melodically bland ("Television" and "We Need Love", closed by a frankly useless chorus and claphands) and choruses so cloying they provoke instantaneous diabetic crises ("Little Angel", worthy of the worst Maroon 5). "The King" closes the circle (a crooked one, it must be said) on the path of a depressive britpop akin to Embrace which, with the rest of the album, fits like a fish out of water.

Postponed to the third album, then, notoriously a grave or launch for an artist. But here the relaunch operation (artistic, we'll see if also commercial) seems frankly desperate. We have too many bland and opportunistic radio-pop groups already, without Richard Archer & Company jumping on the bandwagon of pseudo-winners too.