If you lived in a dreary London suburb called Staines, you'd need a way to fill the void, too. "Where we come from, there's nothing to do, so you have to make your own entertainment," says Hard-Fi singer Richard Archer, who, in 2003, recruited three friends to record some tracks.

Released on the indie label Necessary Records, the single "Cash Machine" became a surprise hit on U.K. radio last year. With the single climbing radio charts here, Atlantic will release Hard-Fi's full-length Stars of CCTV in March. Blending jittery dance punk with a dubby rhythm section (the U.K. press calls their style "diska" -- a mixture of disco and ska), "Gotta Reason" and "Living for the Weekend" take on heavy topics like unwanted pregnancy and suicide.

"The idea is, 'Yeah, things get you down, but do something about it,'" says Archer. "Look at our situation. We made a record ourselves for fuck-all money. But it got us out of the place we were in."

Hard-Fi will hit the U.S. for a headlining tour in support of Stars of CCTV this spring.