Heart Attack, “The Last War” (Broken Rekids, 2001; original recordings 1980-1984)Really early New York HC, not in the heavy vein NYC was later known for, but classic Dolls/Heartbreakers punk rock, chopped and sped the fuck up. This is pure teenage blare, inspired and inspiring.Try 4, 8.1/13/13
Heaven And Earth, “Refuge” (Lion Productions, 2011; original release 1973)Dual female harmony vocalists (one a fine guitarist as well) join together for a nearly forgotten but magnificent acid-folk LP, just reissued. It’s got a strong American folk-pop vibe, à la Simon and Garfunkel, but the vocals are exceptionally powerful – warm but forceful, like steam […]
Heavenly Beat, “Talent” (Captured Tracks, 2012)Very austere synth-pop, with a vocalist who sounds like he’s about to slit his wrists in his pink marble bathtub. Fun stuff in my book, and with a pleasantly steady low-key groove.Try 4, 68/23/12
Heavenly, “Le Jardin de Heavenly” (K, 1992)Amelia Fletcher helped create twee-pop with Talulah Gosh back in the mid-‘80s/C86 era, and she’s kept making great records in the style up to the present day. This one finds her in transition – the melodic palette is expanding from her early work; the elegantly stinging attack of Heavenly’s […]
Heavenly, “The Decline And Fall Of . . “ (K, 1994)Twee-pop colossus Amelia Fletcher made her name with Talulah Gosh in the ‘80s and still makes great music today with Tender Trap, but Heavenly was perhaps her most fully realized project, and this is my favorite of their albums – the jangly melodies still awkwardly […]
Heavenly, “Operation Heavenly” (K, 1996)Last LP from twee-pop legend Amelia Fletcher’s ‘90s band, and their hardest-punking yet. Fletcher’s melodies were almost at the peak of the twisty drama they’d achieve with her next act, Marine Research, and here their ‘60’s mod/yé-yé stylings get real hammerhead propulsion from the beats and revved-up guitars.Try 3, 92/21/16
Heavy Times, “Dead” (Rotted Tooth, 2010)Exceptionally superb garage-punk – loose, hard-driving and spirited, with classic-sounding tunes and an archetypcal drunk-on-cheap-beer-in-the-middle-of-nowhere feel.All Excellent. Start with A/1, A/21/29/12
Hemyl, “Spend a Little Time” 12” (Merak, 1983 [?])Fine Italo-disco, with a nice chirpy-synth-pop aspect also.Try 1/1.11/12/12
Jim Hendrix, “First Rays Of The New Rising Sun” (MCA, 1997; original recordings 1968-70)Hendrix’s last studio work may not be his “best,” but it is my favorite. With a new ease and mastery but undiminished power, Hendrix moved simultaneously into proto-funk and singer-songwriter territory with an audacity and brilliance that offer tantalizing hints of how […]
Hinds, “Leave Me Alone” (Mom & Pop, 2016)Poppy garage punk from Spain, discordantly jangly but winsomely singsongish too. Nice to hear that chasing the dawn through the beer-soaked confusion of one’s early-to-mid-twenties sounds the same in Europe as here, and this quartet captures it well.Try 4, 9. 12