There’s only one way of getting a Boro girl into Stockton and that’s a generous helping of alcohol and the promise of a decent band, both of which came up trumps! The fact that The Heartbreaks’ frontman, Matt Whitehouse, is my cousin, and I hadn’t seen him for awhile, had nothing to do with it!…..? Before the band even came on, Matt filled my ears with music by telling me that the rest of the band were backstage eating parmos (“when in Rome….” and all that!). Matt also told me, and I’m very proud of the fact, that ASOS chose the lads to model their ‘Black’ range and Matt’s modelling Burberry’s Autumn collection this year(not sure why he wasn’t good enough for the Summer range?!)….good looks run in the family!!!

NME describe them as ‘The Smiths reincarnated’, Carl Barat said, ‘They’re the finest support band ever!’, and they’re Steve Lamaq’s favourite new band: call me biased but I’m with Lamaq and listening to their romantic and poetic lyrics, you could easily be mistaken for thinking that Morrissey and Marr had reunited for 2011. Matt’s a captivating frontman with real stage presence and a fantastic vocal range! And the rest of the lads are as equally talented: Ryan (lead guitar, backing vocals), Deaks (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Joe (drums….how his arms don’t drop off during Jealous, Don’t You Know, I’ll never know – he’s fab!).

Their set included Jealous, Don’t You Know, their new single produced by Joe Cross (Hurts, La Roux) out on April 16^th on limited edition 7” and the B-side Remorseful, produced by Edwyn Collins; Liar, My Dear, another Joe Cross production, their first single released March last year, about their beloved hometown of Morecambe, and Save our Souls, the B-side to it; and I Didn’t Think It Would Hurt To Think Of You, their second single, released last August (also Joe Cross). See full set list below.

They’re always on the road – they’re hard working lads – and are a must see. Do it!!!

 SET LIST:

Winter Gardens
Delay Delay
Save Our Souls
Remorseful
New Song
Gorgeous
Jealous, Don’t You Know
Liar, My Dear
I Didn’t Think It Would Hurt To Think Of You

A big thank-you to Sally Large for this, her first review for The Northern Line. Hopefully there will be a lot more to come. Well Done. We all love The Heartbreaks and we will be going to see them at The Empire in Middlesbrough next Monday (28th of March) Supporting the Pigeon Detectices. See our recent feature on whats on at The Empire.

LINKS:

THE HEARTBREAKS:       http://www.myspace.com/heartbreaksband

THE KU BAR:                          http://www.myspace.com/gokubar

By peter on March 22, 2011