http://www.ravemagazine.com.au/content/view/13898/180/
| Tuesday, 24 February 2009 | |
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Album number 23 from Australian guitar stalwarts brims with familiar delights Changes are no good, as The Stills memorably sung on their one and only great album. Philosophising aside, the disciples know what to expect with every Church release as the iconic space-rockers' key elements - Steve Kilbey' forever-young voice, mystical lyrics and meditative bass pulse, Marty Willson-Piper and Peter Koppes's multi-layered, substratal guitars, Tim Powles' subdued yet authoritative drumbeats - have remained unmodified for years. So cool they didn't even bother finding a name for their new full-length, The Church are still very much the same band they were on 2006's understated Uninvited Like The Clouds and its monumental predecessors Forget Yourself and After Everything Now This. Take the first four tracks for proof: Cobalt Blue is a classic Church opener in the vein of Sealine, Numbers or Anaesthesia; Deadman's Hand rides on a gloriously sinister, overdriven arpeggio motif; Pangaea starts off like a sequel to Gold Afternoon Fix's Grind before soaring into the stratosphere for the chorus; Happenstance's European canon chord progression and silvery guitars (with a melting-iceberg E-bow solo among them) hark back to OK Computer-era Radiohead while retaining old Steve and co's signature vibe. Yes, it's still the same beautiful high, every bit worth the two-and-a-half year wait (not counting the superb B-sides/outtakes compilations Beside Yourself and Back With Two Beasts and this January's Shriek: Excerpts From The Soundtrack). The concluding treble of Anchorage, Willson-Piper-sung Lunar and Operetta rolls in steady, big waves like the Bondi surf. Same gold. ****½ DENIS SEMCHENKO |
| THE CHURCH - Untitled #23 | ![]() |
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Fazer Magazine
The Church - Untitled #23 -
review
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Second
Motion Records
The Church - Untitled #23
Review by Mike Bax
It's been a wee while since 'Under The Milky Way' captured the alternative airwaves… and almost 30 years in business for The Church as a band. They are certainly not musicians with anything to prove. And if you approach their new record with this headset, you'll totally love the album. With the success of bands like Sigur Ros and many UK Space-rock bands, The Church almost seem like they are owed some payment of dues or something - they have been crafting clever dream-pop for so many decades. Available on a ltd pressing as a 180 gram vinyl double album with three bonus tracks, audiophiles should be all over this quiet little comeback album. Watch for tour dates from The Church with Adam Franklin of Swervedriver handling the opening duties through June and July.
'Space Saviour' should hit home with fans of Spiritualized, it's rumbling and
steady building chorus of "I gotta get up / I gotta get on" building to an impressive crescendo at the midway point of the album. Heady
stuff!
Drum Media - Tuesday 21st April 2009
THE CHURCH
Untitled #23
You expect the unexpected with any church release, as
over the last few years the band has been making esoteric records that cover soundscapes and progressive rock territory and all points between. This
oddly-titled album veers more towards the progressive rock journeying that was popular in the 70's. No doubt the band has been listening to artists from
Pink Floyd circa Syd Barrett to the likes of King Crimson or even Yes. As an album Untitled #23 makes for a good
soundtrack as well as a personal and emotive work of art.
Pangaea is the single from the
album and strangely memorable with its drifting harmonies and cyclical guitars. The opener Cobalt Blue is difficult yet rewarding with its odd chord choices and disconnected core. The most melodic moment meanwhile
arrives on Deadman's Hand, a lyrical and guitar-driven song that is captivating. The track that probably
best captures the essence of the band though is Happenstance, which has Steve Kilbey and Marty Willson-Piper
sharing vocals. It's the closest to classic church.
By the by, the band has released an EP, Coffee
Hounds, as well as an EP with some wonderful tracks sung by different members of the band. Three releases at once is a big call for any band, yet this writer
imagines that the church fans will lap up all of these releases.
The church refuse to rest on their laurels, determined to keep making arrestingly original music. One
imagines history will lift them onto the shoulders of giants on creative grounds alone." - Sebastian
Skeet

(Unorthodox/MGM)

