Why is it that most U.K. artists typically slag off London? Countless pop songs by artists such as Billy Bragg, Morrissey, Blur, and Elvis Costello have made the ring of disgust toward that fashionable city all too familiar. The indie rock trio in Hefner are also disenchanted. Their passion for hating Margaret Thatcher, the royal family, and the tyrannical moves by Parliament is a common theme comically twisted throughout the dozen track set list on We Love the City. Darren Hayman, who sings with a nasal twang mixed with the seduction of Suede's Brett Anderson, insists that the dread surrounding the city is not a healthy place for anyone despite the pointing fingers of the rich and the lost and the settling attitudes of the working class. Hayman blasts such foolish behavior and pleads for a little soul searching, but only if it's meaningful. "Good Fruit" and "The Greedy Ugly People" play into such mediocrity, swooning melodies shadowing the exchange of love for cynicism. Not even sex is enough for the disillusioned. Love is supposed to mend ways, lift spirits, and twist frowns, but London will never forgive. Sadly, most common people just accept that. "Painting and Kissing" frolics with adolescent frustration typically found to guilt most youngsters long into adulthood, and it's all because of London's deadbeat background. Hefner isn't looking for a scapegoat. It's bloody factual, according to the band. We Love the City might as well continue the rants left off by the band's angry predecessors. But surely one thing is for certain: It's always done with a bit of humor.
© MacKenzie Wilson /TiVo