New Music: The Hardy Boys – Famous Last Words

For a band that burnt brightly and quickly in their 80s guise, The Hardy Boys have had a long and deserved afterlife.

That is in part down to the last impact of songs like Wonderful Lie and Dear Seamus Heaney, but the airing of unreleased demos and new songs in the intervening decades shows The Hardy Boys were essential parts of both the C86 and 80s Scottish indie scenes.

Famous Last Words was written in 1989 and can be heard in demo form on 2024’s Montgomery Clift: Demos, Out Takes and Live Takes digital compilation and will be heard again on vinyl thanks to the band’s Last Train Home LP.

The winsome jangle and sweet innocence of the vocals don’t distract from the poetic nature of the lyrics or the fire they contain. Savage wit delivered with a smile, it does send us back to a time when indie music was intelligent and insightful, able to be complex while sending a clear message. It’s wonderful to hear that once again. Like The Wedding Present, The Pale Fountains, and early Orange Juice? Well, delve into the back catalogue of The Hardy Boys and find yourself some new memories.

As to the unsparing lyrics, the band discloses, “Famous Last Words is a story about a small town and all of the people who think you’re arrogant because you won’t stay in its smothering grasp.”

Last Train Home can be pre-ordered in vinyl format on Elastic Stage and will ship at the end of August. The album is on streaming services now. You can find out more about the history of The Hardy Boys on Facebook. You can find more music from The Hardy Boys on Bandcamp and Spotify.