Hard To Beat

Thanks to A Girl Called Eddy's Erin Moran for pointing me towards Staines, West London band Hard-Fi. Erin expressed in her most recent website news update that Hard-Fi's "Hard To Beat" is the best single she's heard all year; as she puts it "Clashy, disco-y, irresistable". It's a terrific single: The Clash influence is more "Combat Rock"/"Rock The Casbah" than early period Clash which is just fine with me. And when the chorus kicks in with an almost Daft Punk-inspired keyboard lick, the songs hooks are undeniable. I like both early and later period Clash but the pop sheen of "Hard To Beat" will likely drive away early-Clash aficianodos(and possibly staunch indie rockers) in droves. Too bad for them. It's a totally fun song. While you can, download an mp3 of "Hard To Beat" over at bliss-pop[under the June 2005 playlist].

Grab an mp3 of Hard-Fi's "Cash Machine" via No Frontin'. Very Clash-y, very hip UK-sounding, and very catchy. If I'm not mistaken there's a nice touch of melodica which adds a very cool-sounding element to the song.

Read some recent articles on the band from Guardian Unlimited and The London Line.

Finally, check out the archived live session of Hard-Fi's performance for BBC 6 Music's Gideon Coe on June 22, 2005 when they played acoustic versions of "Tied Up Too Tight" and "Hard To Beat".

Hard-Fi's debut album "Stars of the CCTV" was released today in the UK; I haven't come across any North American release date info yet.[photo from The London Line]
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Watch the music video for Morcheeba's new single "Lighten Up" which was released today.

According to Scott of controller.controller, the band's new record'll be out this October.

Can't make Carolyn Mark's show at Harbourfront in Toronto on August 12(part of the T.O Twang Fest)? Well, I came across this info on the Mint Records site:

Sunday August 28, 2005: Ward's Island Jamboree, Toronto ON (with Carolyn Mark, The Jayne Waynes, Swamperella, and Joanne Mackell)

Mint Records artist Atomic 7 will also be playing the Jamboree.