The Heartbreaks

The Hearbreaks beautiful pop melodies, Motown hooks and the lyrics of bittersweet love are finally brought together on their Debut album “Funtimes”. To kick it off is the soaring pop tune “Liar, My Dear”, it sets the bar and assures fans that the wait for this album was worth while. Their stunning similarity to "The Housemartins" should be noted. Fans will love bouncing around this and second track “Delay, Delay”. After this we reach the first real stand out track “Hand on Heart” although a similar use of chord changes and beat as the previous songs the chorus on this track is the first with any potential as a sing along number with memorable lead riff but not good enough to be a hit.

After this the band give the impression they are about to change things up sound wise with “Winter Gardens” and they do as far as the verse’s are concerned, a catchy pounding drum rhythm brings something really fresh to the record. The chorus goes back to the same indie sound as the rest of the album but it is catchy none the less.

Filler track “Remorseful” takes up space and time to get the listener to next stand out track “Jealous Don’t You Know”, again with this song, it is hard to argue that it goes places the listener has not already been on this album already but the lyrics are better and the instrumental with the bass and guitars building the song up to its climax is probably one of the albums better moments.

Another filler in “Gorgeous” follows to take us onto the killer “Polly”. This song might be the only chance the album has of producing a hit with the right amount of exposure. If I were The Heartbreaks I would promote this song to death, the music is catchier than anything else on the album, and it stands out. The lyrics are simple but get stuck in the listeners head straight away, it showcase’s the best vocals on the record as well and the soaring string section in the instrumental put the cherry on the icing on the cake for this song. This is a very, very good pop song and could easily be and should be a hit.

The excellence of “Polly” is not as quickly forgotten as you would expect, with the last three songs on the album by far being the best. “Save our Souls” has a fantastic beat and fantastic vocals again, particularly the harmonies. It does not have the same hit single quality as “Polly” but it does follow in its shoes.

Finally “I Didn’t Think It Would Hurt to Think of You”. Like “Polly” this should be on repeat on every radio station in the country. This song is the perfect pop song. Lyrics, harmonies, music, everything is flawless. The production on this song is probably what makes it, and it highlights that fact that where this song takes flight and the others merely walk, could be put down to the others being purely produced.


The two biggest flaws with this album is that although very good as a collection of songs it falls short on expectations, with the possible exception of “Polly” and “I Didn’t Think It Would Hurt To Think Of You” which should be on radio stations up and down the country. Secondly other than the odd sections in “Winter Gardens” the songs all sound much the same and do not push that band or genre musically enough. However the band must be credited with the fact that as a young debut indie band, they do have potential in a genre that has been beaten to death over the past decade. This is a good album with good songs and two excellent songs, it could have been better overall, particularly production wise, but they are young and the potential is there.