Heavenly - The Decline and Fall of Heavenly

  by Tommy Gunnarsson

published: 8 / 3 / 2024

Label: Select Label
Format: N/A

intro

In our Re:View section, in which we look back at albums from the past, Tommy Gunnarsson finds that iconic indiepopsters Heavenly's 1994 third album, ‘The Decline and Fall of Heavenly’, which has just been re-released on on vinyl, still stands the test of time.

If indiepop is your favourite music genre, it’s very likely that you know about Heavenly, the band that rose from the ashes of seminal twee pop band Talulah Gosh after they split up in 1988. They were immediately picked up by the new – and now iconic – Bristol label Sarah Records, who released their debut single ‘I Fell In Love Last Night’ in 1990. Four albums would follow before Heavenly decided to fold in 1996. The third of these, ‘The Decline and Fall of Heavenly’, originally released in September 1994 on Sarah Records, is now being rereleased by Skep Wax Records, run by singer Amelia Fletcher and guitarist Rob Pursey. The album’s original eight tracks have now been extended, with five songs taken from the singles and EPs associated with the album, ‘Atta Girl’ and ‘P.U.N.K Girl’ (whose title track is apparently very big on TikTok nowadays). If you’re already familiar with Heavenly you know what to expect here – catchy, guitar-based indiepop, sometimes bordering on light punk (or a more C86-ish sound, if you wish), with Amelia Fletcher and Cathy Rogers’ vocals giving it sweetness. There’s even a surf-ish instrumental track here, ‘Sacramento’, which is a bit unexpected, but still works fine. The bonus tracks are classic noisy and not-so-noisy indiepop too. All in all, you’ll get 13 tracks of Heavenly’s trademark sweet and guitar-drenched pop tunes, most of them poppy enough to be big hits in a better world. This reissue is on vinyl, as always, these days, and the ‘P.U.N.K Girl’ single will also be released as a CD single together with ‘Atta Girl’. So there’s something here for both vinyl and CD lovers.

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