the Heartbreaks

The band formed in the seaside resort of Morecambe in 2009, brought together by a shared love of soul music, Orange Juice and gritty Northern literature.{{cite web|url=http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/ones-to-watch-the-heartbreaks|title=Ones To Watch: The Heartbreaks|publisher=Clash Music|date=28 September 2010|accessdate=28 March 2013}} Before forming the band, Whitehouse and Kondras worked as ice cream men, Wallace was a roofer and Deakin "just floated from place to place".{{cite web|url=http://hootingandhowlingmusic.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/heartbreaks-interview.html|title=The Heartbreaks interview|publisher=Hooting and Howling|date=3 March 2011|accessdate=28 March 2013}} Whitehouse was the 2008–2009 North West's Under 21 Fastest Soft Serve Pourer. The competition was held in Skelmersdale, where he won £35 of WH Smith vouchers and a pair of monogrammed pouring gloves.{{cite web|url=http://ellewade.tumblr.com/post/8142776791|title=Nostalgia with Matthew Whitehouse|publisher=Dancing For Dead Roses|accessdate=28 March 2013}}

The band have been described as "fanatical experts on the British seaside",{{cite web|url=http://www.citylife.co.uk/music/features/13897_the_heartbreaks___manc_indie_boys_are_more_summery_than_they_sound|title=The Heartbreaks: Manc indie boys are more summery than they sound|publisher=City Life|accessdate=1 July 2009}} and many of their early rehearsals took place in an old snooker hall off the promenade,.{{cite web|url=http://beardrock.com/interviews/heartbreaks|title=The Heartbreaks|publisher=Beard Rock|accessdate=28 March 2013}} A few months after forming, the band were named Manchester Evening News Band of 2009.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/mar/01/new-band-heartbreaks|title=New band of the day – No 736: The Heartbreaks|work=The Guardian|date=1 March 2010|accessdate=28 March 2013}}

In February 2010, the band were featured on a compilation EP released by independent label Fierce Panda, called Rip It Up. Their inclusion, an early demo of song, "Jealous, Don't You Know", was given its first airplay by Steve Lamacq, who introduced it on his BBC Radio 6 Music show as "Lipstick on Your Collar meets a juggernaut of guitars which veered off the motorway somewhere in the 1980s".{{cite web|url=http://www.fiercepanda.co.uk/news.php?story=237|title=The 6-tracker Is Backer!!!|publisher=Fierce Panda Records|date=19 January 2010|accessdate=28 March 2013}} Lamacq would go on to describe a London Heartbreaks show around this time as "like being at the infamous Sex Pistols show at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, June 1976".{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=145&title=radar_band_of_the_week_no_18_the_heartbr|title=Radar Band Of The Week – No. 18: The Heartbreaks|publisher=NME|date=26 August 2010|accessdate=28 March 2013}}

The Heartbreaks released their debut single, Liar, My Dear, through Parlophone subsidiary Seven Sevens, in March 2010. Described as "an achingly beautiful debut" by The Independent,{{cite web|url=http://www.biglifemanagement.co.uk/producers/producer/joe_cross|title=Joe Cross|publisher=Big Life Management|accessdate=28 March 2013}} it was followed by a second release on Fierce Panda in August 2010, I Didn't Think It Would Hurt To Think Of You,{{cite web|url=http://www.fiercepanda.co.uk/news.php?story=245|title=Fandango Is A Go-go!!|publisher=Fierce Panda Records|date=16 July 2010|accessdate=28 March 2013}} and a tour with former Libertines frontman Carl Barat, who described them as "the finest support band I think I've ever had".{{cite web|url=http://www.gigwise.com/news/59198/carl-barat-hails-the-heartbreaks-as-finest-support-band-ever|title=Carl Barat Hails The Heartbreaks As 'Finest'Support Band Ever|date=October 2010 |publisher=GigWise|accessdate=28 March 2013}} A third single, Jealous Don't You Know, was released through their own imprint, Morecambe Rock, on Tri-Tone/PIASUK in March 2011,{{cite web|url=http://thenorthernline.com/2011/03/08/the-heartbreaks-jealous-dont-you-know-new-singletour/|title=The Heartbreaks: "jealous, Don't You Know" New Single/tour...|publisher=Northern Line|date=8 March 2011|accessdate=28 March 2013}} and was later remixed by English synthpop duo Hurts.{{cite web|url=http://thefourohfive.com/news/article/the-heartbreaks-jealous-don-t-you-know-hurts-remix-new-music|title=The Heartbreaks - 'Jealous, Don't You Know' [Hurts Remix] // New Music|publisher=The 405|date=6 May 2011|accessdate=28 March 2013}} These early singles earned the band comparisons to The Smiths and Manic Street Preachers in the NME, who would also describe The Heartbreaks as one of "the most exciting bands in the UK today".{{cite web|url=http://evevevnet.tumblr.com/post/46693020145/everything-everything-in-nme-18-sep-2010-with|title=These New Mancunians|publisher=Everything Everything Everything|accessdate=26 April 2013}}

Throughout 2011, The Heartbreaks supported both Morrissey and Hurts across Europe, and performed for Bono in Milan, Kitsuné in Paris and Burberry in New York, with Chief Creative Officer, Christopher Bailey declaring, "I love their energy, effortless style and very British attitude".{{cite web|url=http://www.hitthefloor.co.uk/music/indie-alt/the-heartbreaks-new-single-album-and-free-download|title=The Heartbreaks – New Single, Album and Free Download|publisher=Hit The Floor Magazine|date=18 February 2012|accessdate=28 March 2013}}

Funtimes was produced by Tristan Ivemy (Babyshambles, Frank Turner, The Holloways) with additional production from Joe Cross (Hurts, The Sound of Arrows) and the track Remorseful by Edwyn Collins and Sebastian Lewsley. It achieved notable success in Japan where lead single, Delay, Delay, spent eight weeks in the Japan Hot 100, peaking at number nine in the chart.{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/2012-07-07/japan-hot-100|title=Japan Hot 100|publisher=Billboard|date=7 July 2012|accessdate=2 April 2013}} Delay, Delay was voted Track of 2012 by readers of The Fly, beating "Pelican" by The Maccabees with 6,000 votes.{{cite web|url=http://www.the-fly.co.uk/news/article/1013887/track-of-the-day-100/|title=Track Of The Day #100|publisher=The Fly|date=29 May 2012|accessdate=2 April 2013}} The Heartbreaks followed up Funtimes by releasing Polly as a single in September 2012{{cite web|url=http://www.noiseaddiction.co.uk/2012/07/the-heartbreaks-release-new-single-polly-sept-3rd-tour-dates/|title=The Heartbreaks Release New Single "Polly" September 3rd|publisher=Noise Addiction|date=12 July 2012|accessdate=6 April 2013}} as well as a re-recorded version of Hand on Heart, with strings arranged by James Banbury of The Auteurs, in February 2013.{{cite web|url=http://drownedinsound.com/releases/17443/reviews/4145990|title=The Heartbreaks - Hand on Heart|publisher=Drowned in Sound|date=29 January 2013|accessdate=7 April 2013|archive-date=31 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131133058/http://drownedinsound.com/releases/17443/reviews/4145990|url-status=dead}}

After encountering the band in Morecambe, the co-editor of Crap Towns, Sam Jordison, wrote in The Independent about listening to Funtimes, "The music is bursting with energy, love and poison. Best of all, just about every song is about Morecambe. They have looked behind the grime and decline and found poetry. Suddenly, the town seems cool. The Heartbreaks point the way to a brighter future. It's even starting to seem like Morecambe's status as a Crap Town could be a thing of the past".{{cite news|title=Back To The Scene Of The Grime: The Man Behind Crap Towns Revisits Morecambe|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/back-to-the-scene-of-the-grime-the-man-behind-crap-towns-revisits-morecambe-7820913.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/back-to-the-scene-of-the-grime-the-man-behind-crap-towns-revisits-morecambe-7820913.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=The Independent|accessdate=16 July 2012|date=9 June 2012}}

In early April 2013, Edwyn Collins revealed in an interview with the NME that he would be releasing a co-written 7" single with the band entitled What Are You Doing, Fool? for Record Store Day 2013. The b-side to the release was a cover of Orange Juice song, 'Untitled Melody'.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/theheartbreaks/status/322020535762558976|title=The Heartbreaks|date=10 April 2013|publisher=Twitter|accessdate=17 April 2013}}

On 21 October, '¡No Pasarán!’, the first song to be taken from the band's then untitled second album, was made available to download for free from their official site.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/theheartbreaks/status/392201045205479425 |title=Twitter / theheartbreaks: Visit t.co/PtP3Ci6dgO |publisher=Twitter.com |date=2013-10-21 |accessdate=2014-08-06}} This was followed by two shows in London and Manchester, where tracks from the new album were performed live for the first time. The shows sold out in just a few hours.{{cite web|url=http://www.neverenoughnotes.co.uk/2013/10/heartbreaks-reveal-new-single-pasaran/#sthash.cVTYDlt4.dpuf |title=The Heartbreaks Reveal New Single - No Pasarán! |publisher=Never Enough Notes |date= |accessdate=2014-08-06}}

In early March, the band announced via Twitter that their second album would be called We May Yet Stand A Chance.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/theheartbreaks/status/441249409985032192 |title=Twitter / theheartbreaks: We are proud to announce that |publisher=Twitter.com |date=2014-03-05 |accessdate=2014-08-06}} Produced by Manic Street Preachers producer Dave Eringa, it is to be released in the UK on 2 June, proceeded by the singles Hey, Hey Lover and Absolved.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/DaveEringa/status/311021806066757632|title=Dave Eringa|publisher=Twitter|date=11 March 2013|accessdate=28 March 2013}}

When asked what is new about the upcoming release, Whitehouse is quoted as saying, "Oh, many things… Cowboy psychedelia, sleazy bar-room slide, dischordal white-noise wig-outs… It all feels like a natural transition though. Rather than a deliberate ‘change of direction’. Ultimately, we’ve committed to ideas more. Ideas were always inside us but that took seclusion from an increasingly gangrenous music scene to become focused and unforced".{{cite web|author= |url=http://adamnoteve.net/quick-chat-w-the-heartbreaks/ |title=Quick Chat W/ The Heartbreaks |publisher=Adamnoteve.net |date=2013-11-22 |accessdate=2014-08-06}}

{{Infobox artist discography

| Artist = The Heartbreaks

| Image =

| Caption =

| Alt =

| Studio = 1

| Live =

| Compilation =

| Comp link =

| Video =

| Music videos =

| Tribute =

| EP = 1

| Singles = 7

| B-sides =

| Soundtrack =

}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120223061146/http://theheartbreaks.net/ The Heartbreak's official website]
• [http://www.myspace.com/heartbreaksband The Heartbreak's official Myspace]
• [https://www.youtube.com/user/TheHeartbreaks1#p/a The Heartbreaks on YouTube]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heartbreaks}}

Category:English indie rock groups

Category:People from Morecambe