CityLife

Gig of the week: The Heartbreaks - single launch

The Heartbreaks

Given their choice of name, The Heartbreaks are a band you might expect to instinctively romanticise their career story.

Although to examine the hard facts, it’s pretty tough to add any more romance to an already breathless rock ‘n’roll love story.

Over a breakneck 12 months, the Manc indie outfit stole the show at the In The City festival, delivered a storming set at Academy 2 supporting Pains of Being Pure At Heart and of course, scooped CityLife’s prestigious Best New Band Of 2009 award, and all without breaking a sweat.

A Manchester guitar band with more than a few recognisable trademarks – jangley Smiths riffs, kitchen sink romance and raffish mod fashions – The Heartbreaks somehow made northern pop nostalgia seem like the freshest, most intoxicating thing in the world, proving that new Manc indie in 2010 clearly has a more poetic alternative to oafish lad-rock or nerdish art-noodling.

The band’s much-awaited debut single, Liar My Dear, seemingly raises the bar once more: a sinewy, haunting indie-disco anthem complete with Billy Liar references and the best opening guitar riff that Johnny Marr never wrote. Launching that single with a special hometown show at Ruby Lounge, The Heartbreaks will be joined by support acts Mabel Love, The Cold One Hundred & The Mother Black Caps, while DJs from Strangerways will be spinning indie anthems to keep us dancing long into the night.

March 4, 2010 - Ruby Lounge, £5.