"I felt like I was part of something" a thread for Real Lies

i voted for real lies, it spoke to the crushing sense of notalgia that was my 2020. also made me think of the beloved, who i also love in the same slightly-embarrassed-by-it kind of way

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I’m a bit embarrassed how deeply “Boss Trick'' got its hooks in; it did absolutely nothing for me on first blush but now I’ve played it forty times if I’ve played it once and I am afraid I’m likely to listen to it another hundred in the coming year. I’m amused but unsurprised that this hooked you Dan; keep fucking around with Real Lies and they’ll definitely getcha!

There’s just something about the blend of the warm and rummy bassline, the breathy vocals, the canned drums, the piano motif, the disarmingly rich electrostrings and that sample OH THAT SAMPLE; it’s all unmistakably, immensely corny but somehow evokes genuine **Ff3eeee1llzzz** “Clubby PM Dawn” is a very good description imo.

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The first Real Lies album, which I love a lot, is more like East 17 than anything else I can put my finger on.

They remind me of The Tough Alliance a lot though: immaculate hooks over synth-pop, swaggering and menacing delivery but celebratory joyous lyrics. I think TTA practice situationalism as a means of political escape in an idealised way, but for RL it manifests in the fleeting joy of nightlife and club culture.

They also make me think of Saint Etienne's first two albums - stylistically different of course, but both at a point in their careers where their music sounds tied to the city, and borne out of the thrill of the joy of pop itself, all samples and ambition.

I really love this band, I would have started a thread on them if I had had any inkling that ILM wouldn't hate it.

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apparently real lies once described their sound as 'dj sprinkles meets oasis' lmao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQOfS-x6mqc

and rather fortuitously they've released a new song this weekend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAvWmDP-Xtk

Oh wow why have I not heard these before?

i have nothing but warm feelings for these lads, even they make me cringe a bit (hello new song!)

i did enjoy their version of 'a raint night in soho' last year, they pretty much turned the pogues into a bark psychosis song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQQr4t72aVg

I feel like the cringe is part of the appeal: the way they skirt the boundary between lad swagger and earnestness, it feels disarmingly sincere

it's a weird kind of selling point, but yes - that!

I'm not an expert in these matters, but should thread be called "a mix between DJ Sprinkles and PM Dawn with the swagger of Oasis" (or something like that)?

I really missed a trick there eh

yeah boss trick is a ten, I love how it’s a tribute to the third guy who left the group, real earnest bromance vibes

Gorgeous merchandise that I'm vaguely tempted by: https://real-lies.bandcamp.com/merch/forza-rl-bliss-to-be-alive-scarves

As mentioned upthread, love the Ea(rne)st 17-ness of these guys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12GveMzGUSg

another new one, getting a very strong sense of how the new album is going to sound when it finally arrives

Love “Late Arcades”. Though I think “Nicotine Patch” may be my favourite of the recent material.

Love the female/male vocal interplay on:

What you gonna use those sore lips for?
Making vows, breaking laws
Constant craving, settling scores
Football pools and cellar doors
Late enough to break
Stay cool son, ache, ache, ache, ache
Hold it inside
With all the reasons why

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du8HPKqHZcI

I love this group

going to see them live tonight after it was postponed three (!) times and I am too excited

Ever since discovering this group, I've become more and more obsessed with them

these guys are wonderful.

"late arcades" is just >>>>>>

okay late arcades is outstanding

why didn’t anybody tell me about this band???

i found out about them in the 2020 ilx top tracks rollout i think? they were like 52 or something

this album has the potential to rule my winter if it comes out soon ish.

also i need the "bliss to be alive" shirt

the sweetest thing I’ve ever known

"since i" is a freaking anthem

It’s about late-night people living in a world that doesn’t want them. It’s about ecstatic taxi rides, drawn curtains, Bluetooth speakers and the sudden pull of strangers. It’s about burying yourself in words and warm bodies in an endless search for the right ones. It was ushered into the world by our friend Tom Watson and finished off by us, with the help of Tom Demac. It’s the next song from our new album and it’s for all of you.
lyrics
They tore the tongue from the town
Had the nerve to shed tears for the underground
Still need somewhere to come up now the club’s shut down
Aha, ha!
My heart lifts off the backseat, joins the bedtime birds
Numbers rule my life but I’m a man of words
But round her it surges like I can’t describe
Sin, sin, since I

Since I heard your name
I’ve been coming alive
The lines of your fingers
Can we head to mine?
Since I

Sin, sin, since I
Left you late
At Sunday light

It’s a city changing
A shadow play of what it was

It’s a different type of hedonist that wears the crown
Rave echoes are the currency in shutdown town
A sadlad reminiscence with the SoundCloud out
Aha, ha
I’m a caller you can count on in the fading light
I’m a counter you can call on in the dead of night
Young yearning, burning earnings
When the time is right
Since I

Sin, sin, since I

The roads are on surge but the urge has spoken
As one door shuts, another opens
Least till tomorrow when the spell is broken
Aha, ha…

If I were you, I’d forget about that day
Memory fades when you’ve let yourself down
Promises made in a cab, they fade
Well, where are the people who care for you now?
Summer sensoria, unite the euphoria
Get back on the chase and you’ll never come down
Daylight deceit makes you feel complete
Well, this is for someone who never slows down…

Since I

The sight of your shoulders
Laid by my side
Sin, sin, since I

We dreamt a dream of this town
In between the offie and the eider down
Can you hack another bag if you’re coming round?
Aha, ha!
Can you hear that banging bassline through your bedroom wall?
You shut down our clubs then six of us moved in next door
Least you can tell me now how you sleep at night
Sin, sin, since I

going to see them live tonight after it was postponed three (!) times and I am too excited

how were they? I see they're playing here in a couple of days.

I wouldn't want to spoil it but yes you should definitely go see them, they were excellent, the performance was full of surprises and everything was suitably banging, I think the next album is going to be the Saint Etienne/Burial/East 17 hybrid of my dreams based on the new material

fuck this stuff is good

It’s about late-night people living in a world that doesn’t want them. It’s about ecstatic taxi rides, drawn curtains, Bluetooth speakers and the sudden pull of strangers. It’s about burying yourself in words and warm bodies in an endless search for the right ones.

this is otm but also describes every Real Lies song?

Both "Since I" are "Your Guiding Hand" are fantastic.

I was just Googling around looking for news about their second album and Juno has the track-listing, artwork and even previews up. Haven't seen anything announced officially anywhere yet so I'm not sure what the deal is. According to Juno the album is called Lad Ash and comes out on April 22nd.

https://www.junodownload.com/products/real-lies-lad-ash/5393660-02/

My most anticipated album of the year at this point.

it's not unusual for retailers to accidentally post listings for albums before they're announced, lots of stuff gets leaked out that way.

going through their run of singles over the last few years & "late arcades" is so good, glad that's on the album since not everything is.

Theyve announced another show in Glasgow, it doesn't seem to be a "tour" but the date makes sense around this schedule for release

I’m gonna pretend that them leaving off their best song is some kind of 80s throwback strategy,

Genre: "breakbeat"

what I really want is a bonus disc of the "UNREAL" mixes of the singles.

they played Oh Me Oh My (Nicotine Patch) at their show so it's not like they've disowned it.

Yeah I guess that’s my point, the song even has the feel of a single that sits outside of the album it is adjacent to

lad ash is happening

The questions you've been asking for so long have finally found their answer. 10AM tomorrow 🕊 https://t.co/hUPal9RWEB

— Real Lies (@_real_lies) February 8, 2022

FINALLY

I'm hoping it's the same release date that Juno had (April 22nd) as that's quite soon, but I also have my fingers crossed that the track-listing wasn't quite correct and Oh Me Oh My is on the album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv9-l613aSM

https://real-lies.bandcamp.com/album/lad-ash

juno listing was accurate

new song is a vibe

Brilliant news!

Vinyl apparently includes bonus tracks never seen on vinyl before.

some dates:

We've also added new dates to our 2022 tour. Come see us if you like, all ticket links below...

1 April - Manchester, White Hotel
23 April - Rotterdam, Motel Mozaique
28 April - London, Pickle Factory - SOLD OUT
30 April - Glasgow, Nice N Sleazy
28 May – Copenhagen, VEGA
6 Oct - London, Heaven
28 Oct - Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall
29 Oct - Nottingham, Bodega
18 Nov - Dublin, Grand Social
26 Nov - Brighton, Patterns

no spoilers but the live show when I saw them was full of charming surprises as well as being made of complete bangers and I can't wait to see them again

yes to all that, and the gig i saw was very in keeping with the spirit of their music - something very ingenuous and sincere about the whole thing, maybe its just the times we've been through but it was a genuinely emotional experience

massive rabbits – with a vital message https://t.co/ITyxrltlQc pic.twitter.com/36mxex0Cre

— Real Lies (@_real_lies) March 10, 2022

If anyone is interested Real Lies have a very lengthy Spotify playlist called “Bliss to be Alive” and it’s an absolute trove of goodies

Updated every fortnight too!

Bliss to be alive Boxed Joy!

I know we talked about this already elsewhere, but it was your championing of them ten years ago that make me take notice of them. Now they're the best British band going. I'm made up for you that you got to have that moment.

Lad Ash getting a lot of plays here at the moment. I think I might've even underrated it when it came out, sounds so good right now. New album out this coming Friday. Am taking my eldest to see them at their London gig the week after that. Annoyingly it's the exact same night as These New Puritans do their comeback show at the ICA, but I think I made the right choice and I can't flipping wait tbh

We Will Annihilate Our Enemies
https://real-lies.bandcamp.com/album/we-will-annihilate-our-enemies

1. Loverboy
2. Towards Horses
3. Wild Sign I Choose You
4. WWAOE
5. Down & Out (Where E-Girls Dare)
6. loverdrink
7. I Could Join The Birds
8. Arielle
9. Shulgin
10. LOVERWORLD
11. Finding Money ft. Jessica Barden

Album out today 🙂

Yay. Enjoy the show tonight, NIckB! I had a blast seeing them earlier this year

New album is sounding glorious. I Could Join The Birds made me feel really emotional this morning.

joining the general first-listen praise for the new album. the beats are some of their best.

seems quite tender on a first listen

Just left the London show, was excellent. (Last time I saw them the venue was too big and half-full, tonight was sold out and packed.)

Kev is such a sweethheart, his between song patter was so heartfelt. New songs sounded great.

Also greatly enjoyed the 'take it away, Patrice' bit of Boss Trick being a freestyle piano solo instead of the expected 303 bit!

Just left the London show, was excellent. (Last time I saw them the venue was too big and half-full, tonight was sold out and packed.)

― Twelves

This is great to hear. I'm hoping that somehow this is their breakthrough album. I'd at least like to see more than three websites review them this time.

Wild Sign I Choose You is an early favorite. still getting my arms around the rest

afraid to listen because as much as I like the singles so far, I feel like nothing can top Lad Ash, which I discovered late but made up for it by listening to it like once a week since January

xp yeah i like that one. i wonder what cringe kerouac quote kev is referring to.

i really love the last two tracks - beautiful, affirmative ending.

also "down and out" ;_;

the whole thing feels really smooth and sparkly.

His Name is Shulgin

geez i'm falling hard for this. the synths have a warbly texture and layeredness to them that reminds me of .. boards of canada? but blissed out and romantic instead of apocalyptic. the open-heartedness and earnestness really come through. ugh i just love it :)

"there's someone up there pulling strings
cuz it's not just angels that need their wings"

~<3~ ~<3~ ~<3~

Sad lol at "Don't you love what Sunday's guilt does to your Strava stats"

this is SO good, feels like a cut copy album with a raincoat on

Last night, I was in Weston Super Mare, a run-down shitehole seaside town in North Somerset. I had my first listen to this walking along the seafront, under the pier, as the sun was setting across the Bristol Channel, lighting up the vast glazed front of the winter gardens with a roseate glow. It was too perfect. Arielle is an early highlight.

This album is brilliant

25 years of relentless stupidity
They can never take that away from us
Still think we could win wars together
Or just sit in bed smoking tabs (?)
Tarred and feathered

At least, I think it's "tabs". That's a Geordie word though, isn't it? This is what reading Viz comic as a teen does to a mind

fantastic gig last night, they can put together a heck of a set now. the finale of 'boss trick' + 'your guiding hand' is the best thing ever. crowd were great - my son likened it to a football match and yes, they clearly lean hard into that world (multiple football references in the lyrics, scarves on the merch table, kev gleefully announcing the arsenal result, calling their fans 'ultras' etc etc) and there's that same sense of defiance and togetherness, shared triumphs, shared knocks, but it was so much more inclusive, non-aggressive, non-macho. still buzzing from the energy emanating from the stage. if you haven't ever seen them live, a huge part of their show for the last however many years have been their two dancers, both queer/non-binary, absolute fizzing physical poetry to watch (if you're interested go check https://www.instagram.com/dannisp00ner and https://www.instagram.com/robertnoble28 ). hope that they can build on this, it was so good

and indeed it's definitely tabs fwiw

many of these songs took a few listens before I really got into them, the title track and "Shulgin" especially. definitely a good album, but it's hard to top the exceptional levels they've reached previously

running a marathon today. started with the new album and working my way backwards. i hadn’t listened to lad ash since it was new and i guess it speaks to the new album's quality that i was initially more into it than lad ash. but after revisiting... yeah, the new album is good but that last album is kinda sorta aging beautifully. maybe annihilate will too with time.

in my marathoning, i went back to their post-lad ash standalone single "ultraviolet" and that's a fun one.

anyway, new album is a solid four mics from me. favorites are "wild sign", "down and out", and "finding money" but it kinda plays like a highlight reel (just like the last album). looking forward to remixes.

i think i'm hearing ... deftones references in this record??? the white pony tattoo in "down and out" and then there's another track where i swear he mentions the band by name but now i can't find where...

i gotta go back to lad ash but this is already sounding like a step forward to me. kev's lyrics were always rich in detail and wit with key moments of catharsis, but on this album there is this very strong current of romantic abandon and softness that sweeps along all of the keen weary observations into a dream world that i don't remember feeling this strongly. and i think patrick's production has likewise always been lush but man.. this is a new level of impressionistic smeary layered glory. is it tom or patrick singing in certain places like at the end of "finding money"? i know he's sung on other tracks in the past but it feels like he's singing more on this album. and i really love it, because his voice is pretty untrained, but goddamn if his charm just wins me over and i find myself singing along - so much spirit and so catchy.

apropos of nothing but my favorite real lies remix so far is gramrcy and john loveless's remix of "late arcades". it's a serious soundsystem workout and it breathes and lights up in a new, very dark, haunted way with pointillist fluorescence spotlighting the human emotion. it's stunning.

"LOVERWORLD" mentions "Deftones tats". Wish they'd put the lyrics to that song online, it's got some great lines

I really do hope they consider compiling and releasing all the remixes at some point. The ones I have heard have been almost uniformly great, but they're tough to keep track of. Anyone have a master list of all the remixes so far?

sorry, I know we are supposed to be moving on and discussing the new album, but after revisiting Lad Ash yet again this morning during my commute I really can't recall the last time I heard a better run of album tracks in a row like the Boss Trick >> Late Arcades sequence

I was a bit underwhelmed by the tracks released since 'Loverboy' so lowered my expectations for this but 'Arielle' and 'Finding Money' have grown on me since and enjoyed my first listen to the album last night tho nothing's quite hitting like the highs of LA.

an admittedly high bar. It's pathetic how I've almost been avoiding listening to the new album because I know I'll be let down. But I'll still buy the LP if and when they are available somewhere other than Bandcamp (where it would cost over $60 with shipping to the states)

Much as I like this group, getting slight Boaby G burnt-out motorcycle bullshit vibes from this article

I’ve noticed a lot of lyricists are still writing songs as if the mundane were watching a game of cricket on the village green, before meeting a girl you like at a caf then taking her to the pictures. But the mundane today isn’t that; it’s machete fights at the shopping centre, exploding self-driving cars, Chinese spyware in my pocket, microplastics in my balls.

https://thequietus.com/interviews/things-i-have-learned/real-lies-kevin-lee-kharas-doomscrolling-we-will-annihilate-our-enemies/

finally getting around to this album. how are they so fucking good

two lyrics about deftones tattoos on this

Anyone know where to buy the record other than Bandcamp? With taxes and shipping to the states it's over $60 on Bandcamp, but I have yet to seen it for sale anywhere else. Even Discogs only lists the lathe cut version and the digital files. Elusive release!

lmao the shipping costs are wild, like maybe if I was going to by 50 copies of the album

It's so good. I don't know if this will be borne out, but it feels less 'nostalgia as subject' than *Lad Ash* and more sure of itself as situationally euphoric.

Today's moment, in I Could Join the Birds: the 'hoo-rrrrrrr-ha-HAH' around 1.15. Yes!

100% agree. Yeah, the album is less about ‘nostalgia as subject’ and more that intermingling of joy, freedom, power, fear and vulnerability one feels in fleeting moments of happiness - like a less blunt version of Kacey Musgraves’ “Happy & Sad” (e.g. the opening lines of “Finding Money” - ‘She said, “meeting you was just like finding money: it’s the kind of joy that reminds you of your cage”’).

I’m a bit ambiguous on the album title - I understand the vibe it’s going for in context (including in the context of the track in which it appears as a lyric) but out of that context I don’t think it’s obvious how it connects to this album’s interrogation of the feeling of being in the moment (though it does) and instead it just seems rather overblown (though it in fact isn’t).

The album really should be called ‘The Present Lover’.

The Present Loverboy surely

album is... self released?

being in the moment is a good way to annihilate enemies, ime

otm

i think i shared the same reservations about the album title but i'm realizing now that i love it. there's something biblical about it. still can't shake the feeling whenever i put this on that i'm listening to someone's spiritual awakening. it has a very soulful, life-affirming feel to it. i think maybe the only way to annihilate one's enemies is to not have any anymore, and there's a sense of that happening here for me.

This is very nice on first listen, fans otm

being in the moment is a good way to annihilate enemies, ime

― moral ziosk (geoffreyess), Wednesday, 30 April 2025 13:29 (fifty-two minutes ago)

Yes, that’s effectively the point of the title (which is why I’m ambivalent rather than disapproving - per map the title makes more sense the more you listen)

love this album. towards horses is such a special song

i think my favorite right now is "down and out". i love how tranquil and anthemic it is at the same time, and how the chorus melody interpolates "dancer in the dark".

err "dancing in the dark"! the bruce springsteen song. not the bjork movie lol.