Hard-Fi - 'Suburban Knights'

If ever a definition of the term meteoric rise is needed, a photo of Hard-Fi would suffice. The Staines quartet swiftly rose from the ranks of the indie underclass to being its new kings, even if their success was overshadowed by the Arctic Monkeys arrival several months later. While the majority of discussion of Hard- Fi’s sophmore album has focused on the absurdly pretentious message of no cover art that will adorn it (the copy of this single has a similar design,) the lead off single itself has been greeted by a fairly quiet response. Which is a shame, as it’s a bit of a corker, (despite the dreadful pun of the title) another sweeping, anthemic ‘Living For the Weekend’ esque mini epic, in which front man and co-producer Richard Archer takes a shot at the critics as he definitely declares “all these people who criticise us,  well we’re only saying about what we’re seeing with our own eyes“.

There’s also the fact 'Suburban Knights' boasts a Rock of Gibraltar “whooo-ohh, heyyyyy” chorus, over the usual hotch-potch mix of punk, rock, dance and dub that makes up the four piece’s music. They may have God-awful ideas about how to present their music but the tune itself is a triumph.

Released: 20/08/07 on Necessary/ Atlantic Records