With the debut album, they made headway in the mainstream media with The Guardian describing them as "irrestistible"[1] and Tim Burgess (The Charlatans) calling them "a wonderful pop group with the world's coolest drummer."
Drummer Finnigan Kidd was still a member of Klaxons, but left in order to devote his time to Hatcham Social; they soon released their self-recorded debut 7-inch single "Dance as If..." on the indie label WaKs Records (Daniel Devine).
"[14] Vice described it as "one of the best things we've heard all year",[15] and Time Out magazine chose the self-recorded B-side, "Berlin", as one of their 'Picks of the Week', likening the band to The Pop Group, Josef K and Virgin Prunes.
Their debut album, entitled You Dig the Tunnel, I'll Hide the Soil was produced by Tim Burgess and Jim Spencer and released in March 2009 through Fierce Panda in the UK and TBD Records in the US.
It received an equally good reception: Loud and Quiet: "full of nagging hits"; NME: "a stunner"; Steve Lamacq (6 Music/Radio 2) "...pure indie pop brilliance"; BBC America: "one of the top 5 UK bands to see at SXSW"; The Quietus: "loving Hatcham Social’s new direction."
[18] A career-spanning compilation We Are the Weirdos was released in April 2022 on Fierce Panda as a collection of best and lost singles as well as featuring remixes from Tim Burgess and Baxter Dury.
[22] The band's love of story books and children's literature (and as a nod to the 1980s) influenced them in choosing to release two cassette tapes of their self-recorded material, Found in the Woods (versions 1 & 2).
[26] Hatcham have frequently played with bands including The Violets, Neils Children, and Electricity in Our Homes, and are associated with The Horrors and The Charlatans (whom they have supported in a number of concerts) through their work with Faris Badwan and Tim Burgess.
Finnigan Kidd, as well as having drummed for Klaxons before concentrating on Hatcham Social, is also a part-time member of the indie rock supergroup collective The Chavs.