Formed in 1983, but dormant for years until recently, UK band 4,000,000 Telephones have reemerged to share recently unearthed songs, including the previously unreleased “Hard Man”. Originally recorded in 1986, the jaunty, upbeat single is:
“a satirical response to the emergence of the “hard men” of the 1980’s; from the reactionary backlash against post-war progressive and social gains, aggressive domestic and foreign policies, to the possibility of getting thumped of an evening because someone’s team had lost earlier that afternoon. From pitch to politics, hard men were and continue to be, problematic.”
The group also convened to film a quirky performance video for the track. Filmed in black & white, the video cuts back and forth between the band performing the song in different costumes, with one performance being in British colonial outfits (with the red popping out in the black and white footage).
Watch the video for the previously unheard track above, and download it from Bandcamp!
The Indy Review 