"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.

*

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!

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.

Saw them again on Wednesday - they came down to Brighton to do a half-hour set at some tiny venue as part of the fringe stuff around the Great Escape (Brighton's answer to SXSW). It was announced at really short notice so was only half full, and a lot of that was just random lanyard dudes who had wandered in off the beach. Super weird seeing them there, it's normally a metal/punk gigspace with a 4-inch high stage (last gig i went to there was my son's death metal band!!). Tbh the whole oddness of it was kind of a barrier to being able to fully engage with it in the moment, but that's all on me, it was pretty amazing all-in-all.

Just trying to think what they played...

Loverboy
Dream On
Towards Horses
Ripples In The Timeline
Boss Trick

Possibly something else too, but those boys can put together a heck of a set now

i love "shulgin" so much ... it sounds like a lost tough alliance song to me ;_;

i can feel the ever after coming through
and it all leads back to you
so when it comes to the time when the dying days dawn
i'll see your cigarette shining in the setting sun

is there any reliable source of lyrics for this album? do i have to get the physical

Genius seems fine. "Wild Sign..." my fave at the moment. The group in a nutshell, and a great track in its own right.

we'll find heroes in each other cos we're living in an age of none

had never heard this band before today, listened to the new one, skipped back to repeat multiple tracks. i fucking love this. don’t know how i missed them before.

Forza R-L, ultras!!

I'm totally getting a scarf

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

Amazing

think i have listened to “Wild Sign” about 20 times since yesterday morning

this feels like one of those things where a lot of people are going to listen to them 10 years from now but completely ignore them in their own time

new one is one of the best album of the decade

Down & Out has been today’s repeater

Maximizing the drama by playing Operating Theatre's "Spring is Coming with a Strawberry in the Mouth" and "WWAOE" back-to-back and imagining it's the same Dear Daniel.

love that you love this table

yeah, i can’t stop listening to it!

Please also listen to Lad Ash if you haven't already

i have, i don’t like it as much but think that “Dream On” rivals the best tracks on the new one.

happy Bandcamp Friday, ultras!
i'm gonna order up some merch
The new album vinyl doesn't seem to be out yet. I'm ordering it here where it's the same price with shipping (to Canada) as on Bandcamp without, somehow (have used them before). Anyway it says Sept 5 release. Bandcamp doesn't specify. The only vinyl listing on Discogs for this is some kind of "lathe cut" small run thing i guess they had for the release gigs.

Yeah, I pre-ordered from their Bandcamp months ago, just noticed the release date. An album worth waiting for, though!

New track "Let The Lips Fall Where They May" (what an archetypally based/cringe song title) is just ace - shimmering, sprightly garage with a gorgeously warm, prowling bassline.

haha was that a sade ref in the first verse. very me-core

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twagf54baVw

i don't find this as captivating as anything on the new album ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm a sap for 2-Step in any context and right now this is great tbh

Im not the only one who likes to get a little

DRAMATIC PAUSE

fucked up sometimes

belt that out every time

i have this burned to cd so i can blast it in my car and, real lie here, i looked through my glove compartment for some reason and found a little scrap of my ex had left ;_;

Honestly ime everything they do is in the realm of growers, I can't think of many tracks that get me hyped on first play but 48 hours later there i am

Im sorry I overlooked that story map in my blitzedness

It's lovely tho, peace, hugs

haha no worries. just advising any car owners / real lies fans to "look in the glove compartment of your car" - you might be surprised what you find.

Signing in as an RL fan. On 10th Sep at Rough Trade East they're doing an album signing/live show, for which I'm lucky enough to have a ticket.

i didn’t listen to the new one for a few weeks to “cleanse” myself of it after playing it every day for a while, then listened to it again today and it still sounds amazing

yeahhh nice! i did that too once or twice, came back to it and it blew me away all over again.

Yeah, still playing this one a lot. Hoping the goddamn tariffs don't affect my receiving the LP next month

same

On their recent Insta carousel, there was a still featuring a screen with Gene Hackman on it, and I commented, “Is pic 10 from ‘Night Moves’?” and alas, I was correct and they responded as much! ha . love that film, watched it in hospital in June.

The other day one member of Air France commented on their recent post and it felt like all my interests colliding at once