THE CHURCH

Swims with the sharks

By LUKE O'NEIL

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What's the best Australian song of all time? That one jam by Midnight Oil, right? No, sir. OK, what about INXS, they were pretty great, right? Wrong again. Something from Kylie maybe, or, god forbid, those turds in Jet? Nope. Not AC/DC either. Joke bands don't count.

OK fine, here's your answer: "Under the Milky Way" by The Church. Best. Australian. Song. Ever. At least that's what a survey in some Australian magazine we've never heard of—and a quick poll of everyone in my apartment—have basically agreed on. The quintessential '80s acoustic, new-wave romance still sounds as fresh today as it did way back when. Maybe that's because in the meantime, so many bands have been trying to rewrite it.

Not The Church though. While most retro acts from that arid decade are simply running on fumes, The Church have been writing and recording inventive music at a steady clip all along. Their latest, Untitled #23, is the band's 23rd album (!) in its three-decade run. It's a time capsule of their trademark Floydian trip outs, stacked guitar textures and new-wave style shot into deep space then beamed back to us years later. Songs like the languid, flowing atmospheres of "Cobalt Blue" are as chilling and gorgeous as anything in their lengthy catalogue. First single "Pangaea" is an ethereal tone poem of cello and plucked strings. The looping guitar figures, effected vocals, driving bass leads and electrocoustic tones of "Deadman's Hand" sound like the best Doves song we've heard in a few years.

So what's the secret? "I think we are lucky because we never got mega-successful," frontman Steve Kilbey says. "I think it can kill off your creativity. ... The Church has always had a bit of a struggle, and we've never made a load of money out of it. We've always kept playing and recording and hanging together as a sort of financial necessity. And we've always needed each other. That's kept us lean and hungry in all departments."

OK, but what about managing to actually stay good? "We're highly fucking critical of each other," he says. "So if anyone brings anything in that is a bit lame, the others just tear them apart. We've never had some easy path of just going off a-touring around the world, making millions of dollars playing our old stuff." Someone once compared his band to a shark, Kilbey says. "We have to keep swimming to survive."

With all that swimming, it's hard not to accumulate some wisdom along the way. It's an interesting contradiction though: "Someone of my age, who is, after all, 54, if I was an architect, a painter, a brain surgeon, anything at all," Kilbey says, "I would be bringing a lot of wisdom to my gig. But it seems like a lot of middle-aged rockers don't bring any wisdom. They're locked into being an eternal young man. That's another nice thing The Church has managed to do, is bring all our experiences to the table—and not in a 'now you listen to me, sonny-boy' way. We're old guys, and we've been round the block a few times, and that all goes into our songs, but I still have a teenage love of rock music.

"When we strap on our guitars and play, we're still bloody excited, and we're still fierce. ... We just care. As much as we ever have." Amazing what actually giving a shit can do for a band's career.

Take note, every other band ever.

THE CHURCH

WITH ADAM FRANKLIN

OF SWERVEDRIVER

THURSDAY 07.02.09

SHOWCASE LIVE

23 PATRIOT PLACE

FOXBORO

781.461.1600

6PM/ALL AGES/$20

TICKETMASTER.COM

THECHURCHBAND.COM