Post by fange on Feb 4, 2022 9:56:44 GMT
Because fishy just fell so desperately in LOVE with The Church song in the Cup this past week, i'm going to go through their albums, talk a bit about what i think are their highlights and anything else that comes to mind. Feel free to post thoughts... if you have any. I'm guessing it'll mostly be crickets, but oh well.
The Church were a group i might call a personal musical foundation band - they emerged in late-1980 when i was 10 years old, and soundtracked my teenage years to quite a stunning degree in hindsight. Like the Go-Betweens, they wore their influences very proudly on their sleeves, but because they were fine musicians and songwriters from the beginning they transcended their forebears to become their own thing from the very start.
Their initial sound did not change much for a long time - part new wave energy, part jangle pop, part moody psychedelia, and driven always by that post-punk ethic of wanting to make the music THEY wanted to. Kilbey was always a laconic styled singer, not everyone's cup of tea but one that spoke to kids who grew up with punk and post-punk especially; Marty Willson-Piper's Rickenbacker 12-string guitar was both a throwback and breath of fresh air at a time when all guitarists seemed to be Johnny Ramone or Eddie Van Halen obsessed, and Koppes' complimentary, echo-laden guitar playing completed their secret weapons.
This was all there in their debut LP Of Skins And Heart, released in mid '81, co-produced by record man Chris Gilbey and famous dial-twister Bob Clearmountain. Bassist and main writer Steve Kilbey and guitarist Peter Koppes were childhood mates, who later met English guitarist Marty Willson-Piper in 1980 and immediately heard their potential together. The first album also provided the band with their first Australian chart action, with 'The Unguarded Moment' breaking into the Top 30, pushing the album into the lower reaches of the albums charts.
The Unguarded Moment
Chrome Injury
Memories In Future Tense
Is This Where You Live
The Church were a group i might call a personal musical foundation band - they emerged in late-1980 when i was 10 years old, and soundtracked my teenage years to quite a stunning degree in hindsight. Like the Go-Betweens, they wore their influences very proudly on their sleeves, but because they were fine musicians and songwriters from the beginning they transcended their forebears to become their own thing from the very start.
Their initial sound did not change much for a long time - part new wave energy, part jangle pop, part moody psychedelia, and driven always by that post-punk ethic of wanting to make the music THEY wanted to. Kilbey was always a laconic styled singer, not everyone's cup of tea but one that spoke to kids who grew up with punk and post-punk especially; Marty Willson-Piper's Rickenbacker 12-string guitar was both a throwback and breath of fresh air at a time when all guitarists seemed to be Johnny Ramone or Eddie Van Halen obsessed, and Koppes' complimentary, echo-laden guitar playing completed their secret weapons.
This was all there in their debut LP Of Skins And Heart, released in mid '81, co-produced by record man Chris Gilbey and famous dial-twister Bob Clearmountain. Bassist and main writer Steve Kilbey and guitarist Peter Koppes were childhood mates, who later met English guitarist Marty Willson-Piper in 1980 and immediately heard their potential together. The first album also provided the band with their first Australian chart action, with 'The Unguarded Moment' breaking into the Top 30, pushing the album into the lower reaches of the albums charts.
The Unguarded Moment
Chrome Injury
Memories In Future Tense
Is This Where You Live