With the ink on the transfer papers still damp, Wah Wah 45’s rushed out the super tight funky 7” and album title track, ‘Second To None’ last month. The Fly office was buzzin’ to that one and the third album was eagerly anticipated.

The difficult second album, Last To Leave didn’t quite break-through like you’d have thought. So this album, dedicated to the bass player on Richard Brittain who passed away last year, is even more finely tuned. The best moments come from the warm soul vibe of Seany Clarke that’s reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield and the two might fine instrumentals; ‘Dunks’ is an afro-jazzer with strings (in fact, the strings are great throughout) and the flute of John Hughes on ‘Moochin” (you’ll recall his star performance on ‘Song Bird’ of Natural-Self’s’Let Peace Be The Ruler’).

Other star guests included Laura Vane on ‘Hey Lover’ in an Alice Russell frame of mind here. Vane has turn up on Wah Wah 45s before (see PTH Projects) and this could be one of those underground track that surface; great keys from Mr. Simon ‘Capstone’ Little another Wah Wah regular who also turns up on clavinet on ‘The Others’ (Bidwell’s dig at doubters; the fools) and on Wurlitzer organ on ‘My Morphine’.

‘My Morphine’ is one of three tracks that goes on a bluesy based siding and features Martin Harley. The other one that also features Harley on slide guitar is ‘Morning Light’ along with another Brigtonian and famous Ninja Tune, Fink, Another with the blues is ‘The Good And The Bad’ with Nikolas Barrell (fresh from The Gin Club), that’s so good could have sneaked onto Code Blue.

At its best, Hardkandy’s new album is the strong Sly/The Meters/Mayfield 60/70s soul influenced tracks in a similar way to Nicole Willis or Sharon Jones. It definitely deserves a big audience and there’s some forthcoming live gigs with the album launch at Cargo on Friday.

Live Dates:
Fri 09 May, 2008 — Wah Wah Live! with Talc, Hardkandy & Palm Springs live, plus guest DJs The Leftside Ensemble of Helsinki and Servini, Goss & Capstone — Cargo, UK
Sat 10 May, 2008 Hardkandy live on stage — Audio, Brighton, UK
Sat 21 June, 2008 Hardkandy live, support from Bridgette Amofah and DJs Dom Servini & Simon Goss Jazz Cafe, 5 Parkway, NW1 www.jazzcafe.co.uk

Reviewed: Hardkandy — Second To None (Wah Wah 45s) Cat. No. WAHCD007 Release date: 12th May 2008
Tracklisting:
1 Scum (5:05) feat. Seany Clarke
2 Dunks (4:10)
3 Overkill (3:15) feat. Seany Clarke
4 My Morphine (4:29) feat. Martin Harley
5 Moochin’ (4:03) feat. John Hughes (Flute)
6 The Others (3:21) feat. Seany Clarke
7 Morning Light (4:03) feat. Fink & Martin Harley
8 Elevation (4:54) feat. Seany Clarke
9 The Good And The Bad (5:33) feat. Nikolas Barrell
10 Hey Lover (4:30) feat. Laura Vane
11 Second To None (4:49)

Links:
www.hardkandy.co.uk
www.myspace.com/wahwah45s
Various Artists / Underground Hits & Exclusive Bits: Three CD / Digital Download
Third compilation already! Blimey, time does fly, and with it some artists come and go. Over the past twelve months or so, though, weve been lucky enough to hook up with a number of exciting talents and welcome them to the Wah Wah 45s family.
www.myspace.com/Misslauravane
www.finkworld.co.uk
www.myspace.com/finkmusic