Pitchfork: Hal Sued Over Band Name

One is twinkly, Irish, and signed to Rough Trade Records. The other is bumpin', Anglo-French, and pals with Gillian Anderson. When these unlikely roommates are crammed together in a beach house in Daytona, spring isn't the only thing that's gonna break! No, actually, these two entities are both bands called "Hal" and it seems the music world isn't big enough for the both of them.

The story: techno Hal had a modest hit in 1997 with "Extremis", the theme song for a BBC TV show presented by Gillian Anderson, while guitar Hal released their self-titled debut this past April on Rough Trade to promising notices. Now techno Hal are working on a double-CD project called Umoya involving four South African singers, planned for release by the end of the year. They want to clear the CD racks of any pretenders to the Hal throne, so a press release from techno Hal proclaims that they "have been forced to take legal action against Sanctuary Records, the label behind Rough Trade, in order to establish ownership of the name." While the twin spheres of music and jurisprudence are less than rapt over this skirmish-- everyone must be distracted by David Souter name-dropping Modest Mouse in that Supreme Court opinion the other day-- Pitchfork will bring you further details as they become known. Two Hals enter, one Hal leaves! Two Hals enter, one Hal leaves!