Hard Left share video for "Kicking It Off," announce dates (2015)

Hard Left’s debut album, We Are Hard Left, was recently released via Future Perfect, and now the band is back with a new video and set of east coast tour dates!

Brought together by the music, held together by the outrage — Hard Left are a hard-mod/punk band borne out of a desire to explore leftist political ideas and marry them to rabble-rousing music worthy of the worldwide struggle against capital.  The band members have been involved with punk and DIY music for nearly a century combined, including time in bands like Boyracer, Jüke, Whorl, Lunchbox and Black Tambourine, and operating the respected labels 555, Emotional Response and Slumberland Records.
We Are Hard Left is a concise and explosive punk record, packed with anthems of resistance and calls to action. These are crucial times that we live in, and Hard Left seek to inspire and invigorate. The opener “New Year” sets out the band’s stall in fine fashion, urging listeners to “give up false needs” and embrace new beginnings. They follow with the blasting “Hard Left Rules OK,” a call to arms if ever there was one. The album is tightly edited, each song on the heels of the previous one, exemplifying the group’s eagerness to broadcast their message and energize their fans.  To that end, rousing chants and noisy interludes are interspersed throughout, cheeky but pointed references to their mod forebears and street-level terrace “politics.” The message is always positive, the underlying mood is of hopefulness.
From the super-tough “Kicking If Off” to the Occupy-inspired “Red Flag” and the supremely uplifting (and also Situationist-inspired) closer “Imagination,” this is a record that hits hard, crammed with guitars that soar and rage, group chants and raw-throated vocals. It’s anthemic in the best way — inspiring but never heavy-handed, a worthy successor to records by bands like The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, Sex Pistols and The Dils.  Call it “utopian Oi” if you will, or “hard mod” or just plain punk, but don’t miss out on this passionate, thrilling record.
August 8 – Boston, MA – Firebrand Saints w/Bent Shapes, Fleabite, Didi
August 9 – New York, NY – Cake Shop w/SAVAK
August 11 – Bethlehem, PA – Shankara w/Mercury Girls
August 12 – Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle w/Expert Alterations & Royal Shoals
August 14 – Washington, DC – Comet Ping Pong w/Escape-ism, Expert Alterations & Governess (all ages)
August 15 – New York, NY – ABC No Rio (all ages matinee)
August 15 – Brooklyn, NY – Alphaville