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The Church
AFTER EVERYTHING NOW THIS


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If the Church had never played a single note before or after dropping their 1988 single "Under The Milky Way," a divine slice of confection deployed to melt both one’s senses and one’s synapses, the Aussie quartet’s lofty place in the canon of college-pop consciousness would remain secure. But Sydney’s blurred crusaders have continued to refine and perfect the high art of diaphanous jangle during a career that’s now eclipsed the 20-year mark. Through it all, vocalist/bass player Steve Kilbey, guitarists Marty Willson-Piper and Peter Koppes, and drummer Tim Powles have managed to sound like no one but the Church, and if that’s been the secret to the group’s longevity as well as the only source of criticism (it all sounds too much like the Church), well, so be it. The band’s 12th studio album finds them again mining the kind of luxuriously dreamlike soundscapes we’ve come to expect from an outfit that has compelled critics to reach for phrases like "luxuriously dreamlike soundscapes" since the Clientele were in diapers. The hallmarks are all here: Kilbey’s featherbed-plush vocals; the twining guitars of Willson-Piper and Koppes spooling out radiant tapestries of silver and gold lamé; the languorous, cushioning pulse of bass and drums. The only criticism? As usual, it all sounds too much like the Church.

(The Church’s "amplified acoustic tour" comes to the Paradise next Friday, April 26, with the Douglas Fir opening. Call 617-562-8800.)

BY JONATHAN PERRY

Issue Date: April 18 - 25, 2002
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