The musical revival of that era is nearly complete. Let’s face some facts: without naming names, there’s been a bunch of bands that have mined the intellectual property of our collective youth. We can rattle off where we’ve heard the stuff before at the drop of a hat (Joy Division! The Cure! The Jam! Duran Duran!).

Then there’s this one Mercury Prize nominee and NME darling that’s got it going on – a band called Hard-Fi from the small, industrial U.K. city of Staines. Sure, the chords and the vocals sound a wee bit familiar, but in a very good way.

There’s hints of the delay-drenched harmonica found in the best Clash tunes. Singer Richard Archer has the accent-rich phrasing of a young, mad Paul Weller. And some of the lyrics (when they’re not focused on love and pretty girls) have a hint of the social angst of The Specials. Now THAT’s the eighties, Punky Brewster!

If you feel like investigating further, the band is visiting U.S. clubs in January (in England, they’re already selling out fairly large venues). New York’s Bowery Ballroom, Austin’s Stubb’s Barbeque and West Hollywood’s Troubadour are just three of the cool places they get to play.