August 9, 2007 15:00

Hard-Fi's 'subversive' artwork slammed by NME readers

Fans label new album cover a 'publicity stunt'

NME.COM readers have branded Hard-Fi’s new album artwork, which just features the words NO COVER ART in white on a plain yellow backdrop, a “publicity stunt”.

When the artwork was released last month, frontman Richard Archer said: “We wanted to break the rules.”

“We don’t need some airbrushed band shot just because it might be expected,” he explained. “Fuck that. This is about the music.”

But fans reacting to a post on the NME office blog have been unimpressed with the move, and Archer’s assertions that “the significance of album covers is becoming little more than a centimetre square on an iPod screen”.

“He’s only saying that because his useless band couldn’t think of anything halfway good,” wrote NME.COM user ‘thatgirlcalledR’.

“They are only doing this as a publicity stunt,” wrote ‘Mark’.

‘Edmond’, meanwhile, argued: “Aren’t the slogans on the covers a form of artwork? If Hard-Fi actually wanted to have no artwork, then the logical solution would have been to have no artwork.”

‘David Sweeney’ agreed, writing: “Wouldn’t actually having no cover art be an entirely black or white cover?”

“’This is about the music’ he [Archer] says,” noted ‘Lewis’. “So I expect the music within has about as much soul invested in it as the cover. Great promotion guys!”

‘Billy’ added: “If having these covers meant savings for the punters, then it’d be understandable. But it’s just as airbrushed as anything else out there.”

HAVE YOUR SAY: Check out the blog posts and add your own now by checking out the NME office blog.

And see next week’s NME - on UK newsstands from August 15 - for Hard-Fi frontman Richard Archer’s reaction to the criticism.