The Heavenly Bodes bottle the hazy magic of a Cornish summer on Green Hills, their debut full-lengther following a few short format releases (previously we raved about last year’s A Shelf You Can Applaud At A Distance EP). Tracked to reel-to-reel in a friend’s living room, these nine songs embrace tape hiss, loose performances, and sun-bleached imperfections, rooted in ’60s acid garage.
The quartet blends jangly surf guitars, woozy organ swirls, and driving basslines into a sound that drifts between ragged garage-rock energy and dreamy psychedelia (imagine a mix of Night Beats’ psych, Thee Oh Sees’ weirdness, and Allah-Las’ surf, and you have an idea). The record bursts into life with De Groene Heuvels (inspired by a wild weekend on a Dutch hillside, hence the translation), a two-and-a-half-minute blast of reckless momentum that immediately sets the tone. From there, the band keeps the quality high, never losing a intimate, hypnotic, and wonderfully unpolished pull.
Green Hills is out digitally and on vinyl LP trough Fuzz Club Records. Featuring Paul Ruskin (vocals, guitar), Fin Wilson (vocals, guitar, organ), Iolo Puleston (bass), and Alex Mantle (drums).