Never give up it's such a wonderful life

Like a phoenix from the ashes that was the supremely good Daggers comes this new duo Hurts. Thankfully, singer Theo didn't give up the day job and their MySpace page has two tracks on it and the ubiquitous Fred Falke has done a splendid mix of one (how does he find the time!?). No.1 Hits and Popjustice have already fanfared their arrival this week.

The video below, Wonderful Life (NOT a cover of the 80s band Black's song), which sneaked onto YouTube is worthy of a single. It's a brooding, hook-laden track with (unusually these days) a great narrative in the lyrics. And I do like the stylised video, even when the girl suddenly breaks into a bout of vogueing at 0:50. But I especially like the close-ups of singer, Theo. My. What a handsome lad.


The look and sound of Hurts couldn't be further away from Daggers. The crisp white shirts with top button done is reminiscent of Dexys Midnight Runners' complete transformation into suits after years of needing a good wash and dancing round in rags (although The JoBoxers once revealed that these were stage outfits). Theo's ditched the inner city grime for 50s Italian suave. And the whole performance has been taken down more than several notches. I wonder, though, if this shift in gears is permanent because he looks like he's just a fankick away from strutting up and down the stage again.

There's no news on releases or even if the band are likely to be signed (MySpace says no at the moment). But if Fred Falke's doing mixes for them, I wouldn't be surprised if they popped up on his mate, Alan Braxe's label, Vulture, alongside UK trio Fenech-Soler.