One question interview with Heavenly

By the time the great British band Heavenly first rattled my ears in the late ’90s, their music seemed to have become synonymous with the word “twee.” I loved the sound, but the language felt too tight. I sensed something rough and ferocious hidden in their songs — a hunch vaguely affirmed whenever I befriended a fellow Heavenly enthusiast with otherwise feral musical tastes.

Nearly three decades later, I still wonder about the sources of those rough edges. Are the members of Heavenly fans of, say, Peter Brötzmann, or Pharmakon, or Gorguts? In the days leading up to the release of the reformed group’s terrific new album, Highway to Heavenly, I asked:

What’s the harshest album you love?

Amelia Fletcher: Prolapse, Pointless Walks to Dismal Places

I find this hard because other people might find lots of things I love, like Bratmobile and X-Ray Spex, to be harsh, but they just sound like pop music to me! I’ve chosen Prolapse, as they were (I think) at least intending to be harsh. They were around at the same time as Heavenly, friends of ours, and brilliant fun to watch. You were never quite sure if the pantomime aggression between Linda Steelyard and Mick Derrick was going to morph into real aggression. And the way the shouting and music melded was sublime. Like us, they’ve recently made another album, after almost 30 years gap, and they have not mellowed!

Ian Button: The Pop Group, Y

I’d not heard those examples mentioned, but clocked a few minutes of Machine Gun by Peter Brötzmann. He’s fun, it’s great. The harshest album I own is Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed, but I don’t listen to it. The harshest album I love is Y by The Pop Group. Amazing records and band, in their heyday. The harshest (but not ferociously) album I like to talk about scientifically is I Am Sitting In A Room by Alvin Lucier.

Peter Momtchiloff: Insect Noise in Stored Foodstuffs

The only records of that kind that I really like are manrock touchstones like White Light/White Heat and Trout Mask Replica, and I suspect they are no longer harsh so much as comfort-harsh. I do like the 1990 album Insect Noise in Stored Foodstuffs on the Stored-Product Protection label, which my friend Richard Ross ‘turned me on to,’ but it’s more soothing than harsh.

Rob Pursey: Rema-Rema, Wheel In The Roses

The other day, while travelling back from a European Sun gig and recollecting noisy bands we liked when we were kids, me and Ian listened to Rema-Rema. They released a four-track EP called Wheel In The Roses in 1980 — I loved it, and I still do. It was a real racket. The band featured Marco Pirroni, more famous for his work in Adam and the Ants. Rema-Rema broke up when Marco decided it was going to be more productive to paint a white stripe on his nose and do songs about pirates and highwaymen.

Cathy Rogers: Måneskin, Teatro d’ira - Vol. 1

I am pretty out of my depth with this question tbh, so this might be off the mark. But my son’s best friend, Fed (who is from Italy), always puts on Måneskin when he is in our house (which is a lot). At first I protested, at least inwardly, but I have come around. Now I rather enjoy their Italian style rock shenanigans. The mainstay opus round our way is Teatro d’ira which roughly means theatre of hate — so definitely not twee.

Amelia Fletcher on behalf of the late Mathew Fletcher: Happy Flowers, Oof

I feel I should include a response for Mathew, too, as he was a critical part of the original Heavenly sound, and he probably had the strongest love of all of us for music that could be termed harsh. One of his absolute favourites was Happy Flowers. Even now, I find them quite hard to listen to!

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Heavenly’s new album, Highway to Heavenly, is out today. The band begins its U.S. tour in Washington D.C. at the Black Cat on April 16.

Photo: Alison Wonderland