at a glance...

Hometown: Sydney, Australia
Year formed: 1980

Personnel:

Jay Dee Daughtery -drums
Peter Koppes -guitar, vocals
Marty Willson-Piper -guitar, vocals
Steven Kilbey -bass, lead vocals

Related artists:
Hex, Jack Frost, All About Eve

Notes:
The Church appeared during the New Wave movement of the early '80s. 1981's The Unguarded Moment gave them the hit and fanbase needed to start pushing in musical directions more to their taste. Follow-ups The Blurred Crusade and Seance saw the powerful emergence of their uniquely taut psychedelic style, still rooted in much of the British mope rock of the time. A slight shift to radio-friendly rock gave birth to Starfish's "Under the Milky Way" and "Reptile" -- certifiable hits. Gold Afternoon Fix suffered from uneven songwriting, poor production, and drummer Richard Ploog's skipping out mid-session. It was a failure. This turned out to be a fortunate turn of events for the band, because they've since entered an equally prolific, but much more creative and free period. Freedom to record, produce, and release their own material hasn't earned them much notice, but it's undoubtedly allowed them to generate some adventurous and excellent albums. 1998's Hologram of Baal (Thirsty Ear) shows off new drummer Tim Powles, who has clearly brought new life to the quartet. Included in the release is a 70-minute bonus disk of uncut studio jamming that displays the raw emotional thunder The Church can capably produce.

This is a masterful album that dips into many wells. At the heart of it all lies some infinitely rewarding, spacey and often grandiose gothic rock and roll. The heavily layered guitars display enormous range -- from repetitive chord-knocking to squealing dives. Kilbey's bass plods along in deep swashes, and his deadpan vocal delivery only hints at singing and the effect is haunting and powerful. There's plenty of unique lyrical turns within each song to keep you engaged, and there are certainly plenty of pouncing rock and roll beats to keep you perky.

This is the album that doomed any potential star status the band had in the late '80s. It has no obvious radio single, and its darkness and complexity did a great deal to alienate fans of Reptile and Metropolis. Priest=Aura is a BIG album. There are many crevices and cracks to explore. The two minute "Swan Lake" encourages an "ugly duckling" whose father has spent all of his money on hash and lets her know she'll soon sprout "wild wings." The song quickly fades and gives way to the rhythmic "Feel." Surreal lyrics swirl around as the beat and little embedded riffs loft us toward the sky. We're elated and not sure why. "Dome" tells of a mythical tribe of dome dwellers who lay a curse on their destroyers. An English pub-style chorus tells us "The Disillusionist" is "famous from the waist down."

In an ideal world, Priest=Aura would be recognized as one of the best rock and roll albums of the '90s and a perfect introduction to the band.

If you like The Church, check out:
The Church Magician Among the Spirits
The Church Hologram of Baal
The Cure Disintegration

-- Aaron Goldweber

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