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THE HEAVENLY BODES -Debut out tomorrow

THE HEAVENLY BODES -Debut out tomorrow

DEBUT ALBUM ‘GREEN HILLS’ TO BE RELEASED JULY 3RD VIA FUZZ CLUB

PRE-ORDER HERE

‘Green Hills’ is the sun-warped debut album from Cornish four-piece The Heavenly Bodes, due out July 3rd 2026 on Fuzz Club. Recorded on reel-to-reel in a friend’s living room between trips to the beach, it features a collection of lo-fi garage-psych numbers that vary in feel – sometimes twisting and erratic, sometimes sedated and meandering – but all drenched in tape hiss and left out on the pebbles to dry. These are salad-days dreams of escapism melting under the summer sun, evoking the clammy rooms from which they came.

Following hot off the back of first single ‘Faux Pillars’, The Heavenly Bodes offer us another taste of their debut full-length with new single ‘De Groene Heuvels’. Coming in at just over two and a half minutes, ‘De Groene Heuvels’ is a lo-fi fuzzed out, guitar thrashing gem that is full of bounce and strut.

“Much like the purchasing power of the Munten, ‘De Groene Heuvels’ succumbs to rapid inflation. It follows the account of a whirlwind weekend on a Dutch hillside. Leg twisting & eye twitching – ‘De Groene Heuvels’ feels like the struggle of staying upright on an uneven surface,” state the band.

Emerging from South Cornwall’s grassroots psych scene – through various chance encounters at Kernowbeat (formerly Kernow Psych Society) shows in Falmouth – The Heavenly Bodes channel a shared love of classic 60s acid-garage into something immediate and intimate, and specifically rooted in the here and now of the West Coast cornucopia they call home. Fully self-produced, it captures the band’s loose, unpolished spirit – landing somewhere between scrappy garage-rock abandon and woozy Velvets cool. It’s the sound of jangly surf riffs, hard-hitting bass grooves and hazy organ dissolving into the salty sea air.

On the record, the Heavenly Bodes write: “Green Hills was lovingly recorded during the infamous Swanpool heatwave of July 2025. Live tracked into an 8 (occasionally 7) track whilst clad in straw hats and tanning oils, the album is a testament to the clearly adequate cooling systems of the Fostex R-8. Recorded and mixed by our very own Fin Wilson, resident caretaker of central Penryn. With thanks to Eggland and neighbours, Jack & co. at Fuzz Club and countless others. Please enjoy responsibly.”

Emerging in Summer 2024 (2023 officially, before a slew of limb injuries put things on hold), the Heavenly Bodes cut their teeth with shows supporting the likes of The Chills and Charles Moothart & His Fast Band and have been writing and performing continuously since. ‘Green Hills’ follows a string of demo / single releases (some of which are re-imagined and re-recorded here) and their 2025 debut EP ‘A Shelf You Can Applaud At A Distance’ (supported by BBC 6 Music and Radio X), and lands immediately off the back of a headline UK tour in May 2026.

Find The Heavenly Bodes online HERE

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Aerial Salad return with first single off new album

Aerial Salad return with first single off new album

Manchester’s favourite sons Aerial Salad return with new single ‘Everybody Needs Somebody’

New album ‘Ideal World’ due for release November 6th via Venn Records – pre-order HERE

See the band live at 2000 Trees Festival on July 10th 

Following on from 2024’s acclaimed ‘R.O.I.’ album and the subsequent ‘Roi de l’herbe’ EP in 2025, Manchester’s favourite sons Aerial Salad are set to return to the fray with another set of melodically charged anthems with new album ‘Ideal World’, confirmed for release November 6th via Venn Records.

Aerial Salad manage to have a unique but expansive sound. As Noel Gallagher once said, “All the best bands are just playing their record collection.” Well, these three clearly only listen to bangers.

“The Salad” have made a pretty big statement from a songwriting perspective with new single ‘Everybody Needs Somebody’. It’s dangerously catchy, beautiful in its delivery, and sets a high precedent for the next few singles. BBC Introducing have already played the track and said: “A song about the hope we find in love, there’s three universal languages, Love, Music and football. This nails two of the three very well. It’s probably one of the best written songs we’ve been graced with in years, it just flows so well and has so much attitude, as well as an undeniability of brilliance.”

“It’s a fresh yet familiar sound, beautifully arranged and carrying a powerful message. The song is about love and friendship in the darkest of times, centred around the lyric: “Life is one memory. If you don’t believe in yourself, just keep going.” It’s a reminder not only to themselves, but also to their loved ones,” states vocalist and guitarist Jamie Munro.

There have been some pretty crazy Aerial Salad videos over the years, but for this one they headed upstairs at Manchester’s most famous pub, The Castle Hotel, where they cut their teeth playing (and drinking), and invited some local aspiring actors to see if they fancied being Aerial Salad for 15 minutes.

The band have said there’s a lot of pain in the album ‘Ideal World’ — a commentary on the collective fear, misery and hardship that significant parts of society across the globe are facing. Through that pain, however, there is a clear and vital message running through both their music and this album.

Life is scarred by the horrors and atrocities of humanity, but we all have the ability to make it so much better. It can get better, and hopefully, it will.

Watch this space for further transmissions from ‘The Salad’.

Catch Aerial Salad live at the following dates in July:

04/07: The Weekend Rumble – Usk (Wales)

09/07: Boileroom – Guildford

10/07: 2000 Trees – Cheltenham

Aerial Salad are:

Jamie Munro – vocals/guitar

Mike ‘Wimbo’ Wimbleton – vocals/bass

Jake Marshall – drums

Find Aerial Salad online at:

Instagram: / Bandcamp: /Facebook: / Website:

Sierra Ferrell/The Brudi Brothers – Manchester Academy, Manchester – 24th June 2026

Sierra Ferrell/The Brudi Brothers – Manchester Academy, Manchester – 24th June 2026

It’s exactly 4 years to the day since I saw Sierra Ferrell live for the first time at an intimate club show in Newcastle. That night, it was just the diminutive West Virginia-born singer with a larger-than-life voice, backed by just a fiddle/guitar player and an upright bass player. 4 years on the road and she has blossomed into a performer who works the crowd like a seasoned pro, and now has the likes of Beck, Post Malone and Billy Strings queuing up to collaborate with her. A return to these shores has been a long time coming, and I was not going to miss this chance to catch her live again in all her glory.

First up are three brothers from Seattle, who look and sound like they stepped out from another era. With stunning 2 & 3 piece harmonies and a good rapport with a new audience, The Brudi Brothers played their folk-tinged Americana ditties to a packed room. Lead singer Conrad picks a resonator, blows a harmonica and has a voice that sounds like it’s coming through a gramophone post World War 2. “Who wants to hear a cowboy song?” he asks an inquisitive audience before breaking into ‘Me More Cowboy Than You’, an instantly gratifying tune straight outta the Red Dead Redemption soundtrack. If you dig the likes of Old Crow Medicine Show and Waylon Jennings, then these could be your new favourite artists.

This is their first time in the UK. They are very appreciative of the opportunity and very thankful to Sierra and her band. The Bruni Brothers sure made a few hundred new fans tonight.

The stage is adorned with a plethora of flowers. At the back, there’s a big bass drum with the words ‘Heavy Petal Music’ emblazoned on it. It’s hotter than the summer of ’76 outside, and the sweat is already soaking through my t-shirt before the band has even played a note. Sierra, dressed in an off-the-shoulder white gown and flowers in her hair, plucks the intro to ‘Rosemary’ on her acoustic guitar to great cheers. With a 5-piece band consisting of guitar, bass, drums, pedal steel and mandolin, the full big band Sierra Ferrell experience has been realised. The band takes the song to another level. The players, dressed in matching white shirts, neckerchiefs and cowboy hats, are as Nashville as you could get. It’s quite a sight and what a beautiful sound they create.

This is a far cry from a lil ole band that plays clubs, this is a big production designed to take on the world stages, and Sierra is finally getting the recognition she deserves.

The setlist flows like a dream. Big singles mix with cool album gems and choice covers. ‘Dollar Bill Bar’, ‘I Could Drive You Crazy’, and ‘American Dreaming’ are big sing-along singles that guarantee to thrill. ‘Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down’, played early, is full of mournful fiddle, acoustic goodness and cool vibes. ‘Kicking Up Dust’ is a new song that is pretty instant on first listen. It sounds like a Dolly Parton classic. What a vocal performance. I make no excuses to admit the hairs on the back of my neck raise, and not for the last time tonight. Sierra is confident and self-assured, with a voice that sounds like it should be on old, crackly vinyl, and with looks that veer more towards folk punk than Nashville. She is the standout star of modern Country music, and in the live arena, she is an unstoppable force.

The band take things down, and the lights turn deep red for ‘Chittlin Cookin Time In Cheatham County’, an old 30’s tune that sorta sounds like ‘St. James Infirmary’. It’s delivered in a sleazy, rock n’ roll barroom blues way, and just comes across really cool in this setting. An otherworldly scream from the singer precedes a Johnny Thunders-style raucous guitar solo from her guitarist, it’s stunning stuff indeed.

Her cover of John Anderson’s ‘Years’ follows. It has become a firm live favourite, a song Sierra has made her own, that chorus sends chills every time. It’s a song I’ve been looking forward to hearing, and it doesn’t disappoint. One of many highlights tonight, along with a stunning ‘In Dreams’ performed as a duo with guitarist Oliver Bates Craven. Main set closer ‘Foxhunt’ sees a huge bass drum wheeled stage front for Sierra to set the beat before raising the roof with the folky barnstormer of a tune and its frantic fiddle face-off.

Encore time, and we get the surprise no one expected. The guitarist strums a familiar chord progression before Sierra shouts, “Oasis are from here, is that right?” to great cheers as the band launches into ‘Wonderwall’. It’s a moment that lights up the entire academy as Sierra hands out flowers to a gobsmacked crowd during the finale.

From train-hopping busker to viral acoustic videos and onto the world stages, Sierra Ferrell’s journey has been leading to this: an artist who has realised her full potential. A Sierra Ferrell concert is an uplifting, magical and spiritual experience. Whether you are a die-hard, an occasional listener or completely new to country music, you cannot fail but be drawn in and enraptured by her performance and leave feeling like you have witnessed something truly special. Tonight was one of those nights that will stay with me for a long time, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Truly magnificent stuff.

Author: Ben Hughes

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Fakes – Volume Three: A Charity Compilation

Fakes – Volume Three: A Charity Compilation

Drunk Dial Records Online

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Portland’s Drunk Dial returns with ‘Fakes – Volume Three’, the latest instalment in its compilation series dedicated to fictional bands from movies and television. Released digitally and on cassette, the comp continues the label’s tradition of pairing each volume with a different charitable organisation, with all proceeds from Volume Three benefiting Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), an international nonprofit providing legal and psychosocial support for unaccompanied and separated refugee and migrant children. Across thirteen tracks, punk, garage, and indie bands from across North America lovingly tear through songs made famous by fake bands from pop culture history. The Archies, Robin Sparkles, Sex Bob-omb, Jesse and the Rippers, Spinal Tap. The kind of bands that somehow stop being fictional once they worm their way into your brain long enough.

Drunk Dial itself started as a half-joking idea at a bar table: “What if there was a record label that convinced bands to get super drunk and then make a record?” What followed became less of a gimmick and more of a mission statement. The Portland label built its identity around spontaneity, raw performances, and the stories that happen when musicians are pushed outside their normal process. By challenging artists to write and record under chaotic conditions, Drunk Dial carved out a weird little corner of the underground where imperfections matter more than polish. The Fakes compilations carry that same spirit, channeling the strange emotional connection people have with fictional bands into something messy, funny, nostalgic, and surprisingly heartfelt.

Fakes – Volume Three dives deep into that shared cultural memory. Vancouver punks Night Court rip through Degrassi anthem “Everybody Wants Something” by The Zits with snarling urgency, while Denver weirdos SPELLS barrel through “The Thermos Song” from The Jerk like a basement show threatening to collapse in real time. Keddies Resort tackle Sex Bob-omb’s “Garbage Truck” from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World with blown-out fuzz and slacker charm, and TV Cop resurrect Jesse and the Rippers from Full House for a version of “I Belong to You” that feels equal parts sincere and tongue-in-cheek. Elsewhere, The Chugs swing at Adam Sandler’s immortal Wedding Singer meltdown “Somebody Kill Me Please,” while Sex Mex dive headfirst into Spinal Tap’s psychedelic spoof classic “Listen to the Flower People.” Like the best punk compilations, Fakes – Volume Three feels more like a community artifact than a carefully manicured release. It bounces between cartoon bubblegum, fake Canadian teen rebellion, cult-comedy absurdism, and genuine rock-and-roll devotion without ever losing its momentum. There’s reverence for the source material, but there’s also plenty of chaos, inside jokes, and basement-show energy holding the whole thing together.

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Previous editions of the Fakes series featured artists including Josh Berwanger of The Anniversary, Andrew Bassett of Mean Jeans, Suzy True, Personality Cult, Heavy Lag, and Ian MacDougall of Riverboat Gamblers. Volume Three expands that universe even further, pulling together lifers, punks, indie weirdos, and garage rock diehards who all seem to understand the same thing: fictional bands matter because they remind people why they fell in love with music in the first place. Drunk Dial has always treated music less like content and more like folklore, the kind passed around between friends at bars, basements, record stores, and late-night movie marathons. Fakes – Volume Three captures that feeling perfectly. It’s a love letter to fake bands, real scenes, and the beautifully blurry line between the two.