Sometimes (not always) Spotify delivers on the promise. I don't think I'd ever heard this song until the algorithm threw it at me as an option for an 80s Grab Bag playlist -- but the minute I heard it, I knew it had to be in the mix.
But who is The Church? They're from Australia, so right away I ask myself, why do we not hear more about Aussie bands? Think of it: Beyond Men at Work, AC/DC, Crowded House, and INXS, who is there? Olivia Newton-John, Kylie Minogue, the BeeGees? Please.
But I digress. Just listen to this track (which did in fact apparently crack the U.S. Top 40 in 1988) and what's not to love?
That folky acoustic opening draws us in, with its almost incantatory melody, but that's just the tease. It builds ominously from there, with spangly guitar flourishes and layers of synths (do I hear a wheeze of bagpipes?); all those minor and suspended chords keep us uneasy, while the drumbeat drives mercilessly ahead. Songwriter/bassist/frontman Steve Kilbey's languid vocals drip with insinuation ("Wish I knew what you were looking for / Might have known what you would find..."), and I'm hooked on the allusion and confusion. What could be more Eighties than that?
(I know, I know, I used to say that the Eighties were the decade that ruined music, but then I realized that about half of the music I most love to listen to is from the Eighties, so sue me. Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.)
Anyway, it's a hooky, haunting pop song, and we just don't have enough of those.
Wikipedia (because I trust it a whole lot more than Grokipedia) tells me that The Church are still touring and recording: Steve Kilbey is the only original member left, but I gather he's pretty much the driving force of the band anyway. I've listened to several of their other tracks and they're all tasty. Why has their music heretofore flown so far under my radar?
Then again, it's nice to know that there are frontiers yet to be explored . . .
