Hard-Fi are a good band, okay? The lambasting that the Staines group got for their second album was unfair; I’ll admit the album artwork was a bit questionable to put it nicely but it still featured some fine songs. ‘Suburban Knights’ and ‘The King’ are two of the best songs Richard Archer has ever written, but the break the band took following ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ has been unfairly viewed as a chastised retreat rather than a well-earned rest.
So finally now, Hard-Fi are back after three years in the musical abyss with new single ‘Good For Nothing’ and it’s very good. Paying homage to their self-proclaimed roots within soul and dance especially with the ‘Crazy In Love’ opening, it’s a moody and heavier track that promises much from up-coming album ‘Killer Sounds’. A catchy riff, easily memorable chantlike chorus and typically industrious Hard-Fi feel, it should appease the fans who so readily criticised the second album.
People are far too quick to write off the band who brought us the exceptional ‘Stars for CCTV’, but it is hard to forget the indie rock four-piece amongst their contemporaries. The likes of Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian have gone from strength to strength, while others such as Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand are now completing their fourth albums. Archer and Co. were one of the biggest casualties of the mid-2000’s indie boom, but this shows much intent and promise to get back to where they belong.
‘Killer Sounds’ will be well worth a listen, as has their back catalogue to this point, and will hopefully put Hard-Fi back towards the top. They have some cracking songs behind them and ‘Good For Nothing’ shows they aren’t done with making them yet. Just stick to a normal photo shoot for the album cover, yeah boys?
A good start to rebuilding their reputation, and here is 'Good For Nothing'.
NWR
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