Today, I saw something that, as a music lover, offended me deeply. It was a 24k gold disc, master version reissue of Lita Ford's Lita-- the kind of repackaging job that you usually see wrapped around a Pink Floyd or a Rolling Stones album. The amount of attention that must have been spent on this disc, which was only notable in the world of rock music for the record-breaking amount of semen that the hit video "Kiss Me Deadly" coaxed from the loins of pubescent boys everywhere, is unforgivable. Sure, taste in music is subjective. But it's not that subjective.
Thank heaven that more worthwhile out-of-print discs are seeing the light of day despite wasteful efforts like the Lita project. K Records, owners of Heavenly's later releases, realized that a crucial milestone in the band's catalog was out of print and decided to take action. Augmenting the band's original 1990 mini-LP debut with six additional tracks-- three early singles and their b-sides-- along with new cover art and liner notes to dress it up, K's reissue of Heavenly vs. Satan arrives over a decade later and not a moment too soon. No more spending vacations in Japanese indie stores hunting through the "H" section for me.
Heavenly was twee almost since the beginning; certainly much earlier than any negative connotations accumulated on the word like ship barnacles. A band born, reborn and then born again, they began as cult phenoms Talulah Gosh in 1986, enjoying critical adoration and the corresponding low record sales. After transmutating to Heavenly in the early 90s, they enjoyed a lengthier and more critically lauded career before shapeshifting once again to Marine Research. But the main twee thread remained ever-present throughout all these costume changes.
If rock speaks to lust and pop love, then twee is about crush: superficial love with an undercurrent of tragedy. Heavenly's lyrics emphasize and exemplify love, trust, hurt, awkwardness and insecurity-- the most basic and adolescent of love's entanglements. And in a fashion, the listener quickly develops a crush of their own on the music of Heavenly, focusing on trivia such as the cute hiccup of singer Amelia Fletcher on the third verse of "Our Love is Heavenly," or the tic-tac guitar shuffle Peter Momtchiloff provides in "Boyfriend Stays the Same." It's a superficial appeal, but that's the point. Crush, remember?
Including the three singles and their b-sides here was a respectable move on K's part. The a-sides "I Fell in Love Last Night" and "Our Love is Heavenly" are both damning evidence in the case of Sarah vs. Sub Pop for best seven-inches of the late 80s/early 90s. Pop masterpieces, each of them, the latter boasts one of the catchiest choruses I've ever heard. Fans of the Cardigans and the Sundays will instantly spot the obvious influence from this one track alone.
But the most stellar moment on the disc comes with "Shallow." Starting with simple ringing guitar notes that presage the chord progression to come (in a fashion very reminiscent of the Cure's "Boys Don't Cry"), a sublime jangle kicks in and drives the song along at a two-step pace. Tragi-pitiful lyrics spell out the narrator's self-delusion: "Singing your praises/ While you're with her/ Foolishly patient for your return/ Silent you left me/ And silence stays."
One of the tolerance testers you may experience on this album is the sheer quantity of such treacly richness. With each song so sugary sweet, listening to Heavenly vs. Satan can, at times, be like post-Halloween gorging on a Hefty bagful of fun-size booty. And there are a few duds, such as "Lemonhead Boy," which just sounds a little too frenetic, and the b-side closer "Escort Crash on Marsten Street" with its corny car crash plotline. But even these are minor flaws that sound more like growing pains than botched pieces.
So much more than just a key historical listen, the music on this Heavenly reissue does more than merely justify K Records' effort; it makes it an imperative. The progression from C-86 founding scenesters Talulah Gosh to Heavenly, and their maturation through tragedy into Marine Research, mirrors the evolution of carbon: from peat to coal to diamond. And while diamond may be more polished and prettier to behold-- both fair assessments of Marine Research's latter-day updating of the Heavenly sound-- coal still burns more brightly. Heavenly vs. Satan is radiant.
