Hefner - The Best Of Hefner
[Fortune & Glory]

If nothing else, Hefner are undoubtedly cult indie heroes, the self-proclaimed largest small band in Britain. Within this collection lies a good indication as to why they were so cherished by their fans but never got the recognition that many felt they deserved. In short, it's at times inspired but also flawed in equal measure. Drawn from their four albums, they have chosen to chart a chronological course through the waters of their career from which you can clearly observe their attempt to grow in sophistication and adventurousness, culminating in the fan base alienating final album, 'Dead Media'.

It's perhaps a shame that their final hoorah is dismissed so offhandedly, even the press release accompanying this album describes it as a 'curates egg', seemingly inferring it is some kind of blip on their career or an after thought best forgotten. On the contrary the three tracks included here indicate it may indeed be something of a forgotten gem. Perhaps it is the fault of Hefner's adoring fans themselves, who would have rather they make the same album over and over, languishing in the indie-disco squalor of the early singles 'Christian Girls' and 'Pull Yourself Together'.

The early singles and cuts from the first two albums are, in my opinion, the weakest material here. The stripped back sound is occasionally weedy and on the strength of these early songs alone it would be easy to see why they remained a relatively cult phenomenon. It's not until they started to stretch their wings and show slightly more ambition on their third album, 'We Love the City' that recognition on a larger scale began to beckon. The more polished sound of 'Good Fruit' scraped the Top 40, and with it's swooning horns, it's definitely the type of pop music that I think deserves to grace the charts. The extra bombast also helps to take the edge off Darren Hayman's lyrics, which at times verge on being uncomfortably candid.

I think it's fair to say that Hefner were a band that grew with each album they made, their finest moments coming with their last two albums, the shiny pop of 'We Love the City' and the electro tinged 'Dead Media'. The greatest shame seems to be that the interesting new direction in which 'Dead Media' was steering the band has been disregarded. Hopefully, Darren Hayman's solo album, 'Table for One' which combines the expansiveness of 'We Love the City' with the quirky production of 'Dead Media' will gain the recognition it deserves.