Dressing the blue-collar hedonism of Oasis in a multicultural grab-bag of British street-music styles from punk to ska to house-lite, Hard-Fi hail from the depressing London suburb of Staines (think vandalism, unemployment, Ali G), singing about unplanned pregnancies and school friends under fire in Iraq. Yet what could easily have been a grim social studies lecture about the Burberry-clad U.K. underclass is transformed by melodic flair and resourceful, radio-friendly production as the quartet skip deftly between Clash-type reggae-rock (“Cash Machine”) and wooshing, Kylie-esque nightclub pop (“Hard to Beat”), washing down the vérité grit with a euphoric Saturday night cocktail of booze and Ecstasy as singer and songwriter Richard Archer howls at the moon. A slice of British street life with strut, and guitars.

DOWNLOAD: “Cash Machine,” “Hard to Beat”