Hurts

Where has Manchester been hiding these two? A world away from Shaun Ryder’s baggy sweat pants and the Gallagher brothers’ council estate swagger, Hurts (aka Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson) have only gone and brought back the Eighties. Not the nasty neon sweatbands and roller-skates Eighties you understand, but the crisp shirts, hair gel and shiny slip-on shoes you might expect of a band from London or France circa 1984. A synth-pop duo who sound like Tears for Fears, look like Bros and dress like Spandau Ballet, Hurts have been causing a stir with singles ‘Wonderful Life’ and ‘Better Than Love’; the videos for which are chock-a-block with anguished glances, cocktail frocks, sharp cheekbones and even sharper suits. There might be more fillers than substance on their debut album Happiness but if it was a return to style and synthesisers you were after, this is it.