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Hard-Fi Ready for Their American Close-Up: #1 UK Album, "STARS OF CCTV," Lands Next Week; Coast-to-Coast Trek -- Inc. Coachella -- Set to Go
Thursday March 9, 1:00 pm ET

NEW YORK, NY--(MARKET WIRE)--Mar 9, 2006 -- Necessary/Atlantic recording group Hard-Fi has unveiled details of a major headlining North American tour in support of their acclaimed debut album's long-anticipated U.S. release. Praised by NME as "the album of the year," "STARS OF CCTV" -- which hit #1 in their native UK in January -- arrives in stores nationwide next Tuesday, March 14th.

A true sensation in England, Hard-Fi is on track to replicate their UK success here in the former Colonies. The album's first single, "Cash Machine," has bulleted into the top 20 on the national Alternative/Modern Rock airplay charts. The band will celebrate the release of "STARS OF CCTV" with their first-ever North American TV appearance, performing "Cash Machine" on the Wednesday, March 15th installment of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

Hard-Fi will kick off the tour -- their second North American headlining trek of 2006 -- with a series of West Coast in-store appearances, including visits to Sherman Oaks, San Francisco, San Diego, Portland, and Seattle. From there, the band will hit the road for a three-week itinerary, culminating on April 7th at Chicago's Vic Theatre. After a brief return to Europe, Hard-Fi will then revisit these shores in late April for a further week's worth of shows, including an April 29th performance at the eagerly anticipated Coachella Music & Arts Festival (see attached itinerary).

Hard-Fi and "STARS OF CCTV" spurred a surprise pop commotion in their native England last summer. The album was greeted by both critical acclaim and commercial success upon its July 2005 release. The collection made a remarkable UK chart debut at #6, a figure made all the more notable in that it occurred in the sales week following the hugely successful Live 8 concerts.

Along with its popular triumph, "STARS OF CCTV" received across-the-board enthusiasm from the notoriously hard-to-please UK critical establishment. The album received a 9-out-of-10 rave in NME -- who hailed its "tirelessly inventive, genre-splicing genius" -- while the UK's biggest music magazine, Q, dubbed Hard-Fi "the next major British band." "There have been some terrific debut albums by British bands this year," wrote The Times' Paul Connolly, "but this rough diamond by Staines' Hard-Fi is the best yet... As close to a five-star record as I've heard all year."

Hard-Fi's success proved to be no flash in the pan. Rather, the genre-blurring quartet is shaping up to be one of the most significant new UK bands in recent memory. Their year kicked off with a pair of Brit Awards nominations in the "British Rock Act" and "British Group" categories, placing them alongside international superstars like Coldplay, Oasis, Gorillaz, and Franz Ferdinand, as well as such breakthrough artists as Kasabian and Kaiser Chiefs. The band's upcoming May UK tour -- their biggest to date -- sold out within minutes, including a remarkable five nights at London's Brixton Academy, a stand matched only by such legendary artists as Bob Dylan, the Clash, Massive Attack, and the Prodigy.

HARD-FI
               North American Tour 2006
            * denotes In-Store Appearances

MARCH
14      Sherman Oaks, CA          Tower Records *
16      San Diego, CA             M-Theory *
17      San Francisco, CA         Amoeba Records *
18      Portland, OR              Music Millennium *
19      Seattle, WA               Easy Street *
21      South Padre Island, TX    Louie's Backyard
23      Atlanta, GA               The Roxy
24      St Petersburg, FL         State Theatre
25      Miami, FL                 Bicentennial Park - Global Gathering
26      Orlando, FL               House of Blues
28      Carrboro, NC              Cat's Cradle
30      Washington, DC            Black Cat

APRIL
1       Brooklyn, NY              Warsaw
2       Boston, MA                Paradise Rock Club
4       Montreal, QUE             Le National
5       Toronto, ONT              Phoenix Concert Theatre
6       Cleveland, OH             Agora Ballroom
7       Chicago, IL               Vic Theatre
22      Vancouver, BC             Plaza Club
24      Seattle, WA               Chop Suey
25      Portland, OR              Berbati's Pan
27      Sacramento, CA            The Boardwalk
28      San Francisco, CA         Slim's
29      Indio, CA                 Coachella Music & Arts Festival

For more information on Hard-Fi, please see: www.hard-fi.com