Everybody knows and loves (and if they don’t, it’s thier loss) Heavenly. They formed in 1989 out of the ashes of short-lived punk pop combo Talulah Gosh. Original members Amelia Fletcher, Peter Momtchiloff, Rob Pursey and Mathew Fletcher were joined later by Cathy Rogers, and the full Heavenly sound – a combination of an energetic punkish rhythm section, sweet, wandering lead guitar lines and full-on girl group harmonies – was consolidated. The band recorded for cult label Sarah Records in the UK and, by the time of their second album, for K Records in the US. Members of the indiepop scene in the UK and the burgeoning Riot Grrrl scene in the US, Heavenly created a unique blend of infectious melody and sharp-edged lyrics. The band’s career was cut tragically short when drummer Mathew took his own life in 1996. In 2023 the band started the process of re-releasing their four LPs and have played a handful of live shows, with drummer Ian Button completing the line-up.  Concerts in London, Paris and across the US have sold out quickly, with original Heavenly fans clamouring to see a band that they still love. Along the way, Heavenly’s music has also found a new, much younger audience, with P.U.N.K. Girl and Me And My Madiness gaining many millions of streams and Tiktok ‘likes’. These days, Amelia, Rob and Ian currently also play in Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires (here the review for their Birling Gap record) and Swansea Sound. Peter plays in Would-Be-Goods and Tufthunter.
Portland Town is Heavenly’s first single in 29 years!

“Sulla parete una scaletta dei Tiromancino, i Jam periodo In The City, Pete e Carl dei Libs, Moretti il batterista degli Strokes che sbevazza con gli amici, i Beatles che reggono il cartello “All You Need Is Love” in quattro lingue diverse con George Harrison, dei quattro il mio preferito, e sull’armadio a sinistra la fila disordinata dei cd. Sulla parete vicino al letto un’insolita coppia: Il Laureato con Dustin Hoffman sedotto dalla signora Robinson e McEnroe nel celebre gesto del servizio.“
Luigi Pavone – Babies

Rinnovare la presenza di TRISTE© a Indi(e)pendenze, la trasmissione che si occupa di musica alternativa dal lontano 2015 sulle frequenze di Radio Casotto e di NEU Radio, da tempo curata dal caro amico e collaboratore Matteo Maioli, che in ogni trasmissione si apre a ospiti, collaborazioni, première e interviste, è sempre una grande gioia. Quando poi c’è la possibilità di raccontare di musica e di letteratura, la gioia raddoppia. Qualche settimana fa, grazie a Matteo e Francesco Giordani, abbiamo colto al volo questa opportunità e abbiamo parlato ancora una volta di un romanzo importante (per noi, ma non solo), scandendo le nostre chiacchiere con da una tracklist che ha alternato brani ispirati dal libro al meglio della musica indipendente dei primi mesi dell’anno in corso.

not not cool is a new collaboration between old friends Jamie Cameron (The Last Dinosaur) and Will Clapson (Jack In The Water) recorded in Mallorca around a year ago. Old friends, new tunes.
dumb is the debut single by the band, featuring Rachel Lanskey (who plays with The Last Dinosaur) as guest female vocals.

Born in Turin and based in Toronto, Fortunato Durutti Marinetti (Daniel Colussi’s new moniker after Pinc Lincolns or The Shilohs) playied in various bands for the last twenty years, and quietly self-released solo albums. Memory’s Fool, a small, complete and in-depth work on the relationship between the sounds of the past and the present, a small philosophical treatise and his second release under this name (following 2020’s Desire) was his first time working with proper label support. Drawing inspiration from the restless, explorative spirit of 1970s songwriters like Lou Reed, Robert Wyatt and Joni Mitchell, Marinetti chose to first wrote all the lyrics before assembling a hybrid pickup band of jazz, folk and rock musicians to render his songs into a form he calls “poetic jazz rock”. And indeed, Eight Waves In Search Of An Ocean, his 2023 album and its first for Quindi Records is poetic jazz rock of the highest order. Known on both sides of the Atlantic for his baroque, poetic approach to songwriting, now Fortunato Durutti Marinetti returns with Bitter Sweet, Sweet Bitter, out via Quindi Records on July 25th, his most sweeping, absurd, and emotionally acute statement to date. Calling it Poetic Jazz Rock — at once a private joke and an honest descriptor — the Toronto-via-Turin cantautore (Italian for singer-songwriter) delivers an album of maximalist grace, gilded sorrow, and lyrical intensity. Today he unveils the first single from the album, Full Of Fire.

After making their debut in 2023 with Sunset Sea Breeze (Meritorio / Paisley Shirt), Whitney’s Playland, the duo of Inna Showalter (Magic Fig, Blades of Joy, Modern Charms) and George Tarlson (Grandma’s Boyfriend) have fleshed out the band to include drummer Evan Showalter (Blank Square) and multi-instrumentalist Paul DeMartini and have returned with Long Rehearsal, a short and sweet three-song 7” EP set to be released on June 20th, 2025 via Dandy Boy Records (Oakland, CA) and Meritorio Records (Madrid, Spain). Their sound has evolved with the additional accompaniment, and this brand new batch of songs make for a fuller actualization of Showalter and Tarlson’s brand of Bay Area jangle pop. While these new songs recall the first album’s distinct style, they diverge from their bedroom pop introduction. Long Rehearsal sees the full band performing together for the first time on a record since expanding into a four-piece. The trio of tracks bridges the divide between jangle-pop and crunchy 90’s alt rock, plumbing the depths of tonality and mood. The whole thing is anchored by Inna Showalter’s delicately determined voice, which might help you forget about your trials and tribulations for a brief moment. The result is a more polished production but still keeps in touch with the band’s lo-fi roots. All three tracks were recorded at the band members’ San Francisco, El Cerrito, and Santa Rosa home studios.