Thursday, May 31, 2007

The Boys in the Bands Vol. IV



THE CHURCH-Tantalized

I woke up this morning with a burning passion to hear the song "Tantalized." It then occurred to me that I had kind of dropped this lovely feature on my blog and that maybe it might be time to pick it back up again. Which brings us to boy number four, Steve Kilbey of The Church.

The Church hail from Australia and in the early and mid-80's they ranked right up there with Bauhaus and its derivatives as one of my favorite bands. A little more dreamy and poetic, I suppose I would almost classify them with the bands in the New Paisley Underground scene, which I guess is not so new anymore.

Steve Kilbey is the lead singer, bassist and also is responsible for much of the writing, especially the lyrics. Yeah, maybe this band could be a little sentimental at times, but I always thought they were a bit more poetic or romantic than most bands. Most people only know of them from their commercial breakthrough album from 1988, Starfish, containing their most popular song, "Under the Milky Way." However, this was seven albums into their career. I, on the other hand, am clearly a huge fan of some of their earlier work. Originally only released in Australia as Of Skins and Hearts, in 1982 their debut was re-released as a self-titled album. This is the album that contains one of my favorite songs of theirs, "Unguarded Moment." Another of my favorites was "Almost With You" from The Blurred Crusade, also released in 1982. There was an air of vulnerability in Kilbey's lyrics, which is what I think drew me to them. I still get just a little dreamy thinking about them.

They're still around, but seem to get little airplay for their new stuff, and I have to admit, I'm guilty for leaving them. Maybe reality caught up with me and buried the dreamer inside.



THE CHURCH-Unguarded Moment

11 comments:

lulu said...

We saw them at the Metro, right? With your brother and the goofy boys? Concerts are all starting to run together in my head.

Tenacious S said...

Dwayne and Jeanne drove down from Grand Rapids for the show, but I think Dave went too. I remember we were standing off to the right side where there is a slight step up.

lulu said...

My parents were in China, right? And we all slept at my house.

eek said...

Yep they are still around (and may possibly tour in the US this Sept/Oct). There is a fantastic live version of Tantalized somewhere on You Tube. And when they toured here last year they actually played Unguarded Moment which they haven't done in years.

You might get a kick out of Steve's blog. You might not either -- while many fans really enjoy the person they get to know through his blog, others have been disillusioned when he isn't the person they expected. Anyway, the link to his blog (titled The Time Being) is:

The Time Being

You might also want to check out the Church's Myspace page at:

The Church Myspace

Take care!

Dale said...

I still listen to their Starfish cd and love it. Good call. Captain Fearless was just talking about them the other day too.

Anonymous said...

Two of my favoritist Church songs. I suppose there is no point in doing a Church post now, you covered it pretty well. Steve's okay, but Marty is my favorite.

Moderator said...

They're Australian? I thought they were American. I will have to mention this to my Australian friend as another reason why Americans and Australians are different.

Tenacious S said...

Eek-Thanks for stopping by and for the Steve Kilbey update.
Dale-Thanks for the heads-up!
Fearless-First, please make sure to pick up your welcome package. Second, the point of this series is partially about my love for music and partially about my crushes on boys in bands. Marty is the better musician, if you ask me.
Grant-Why does it not surprise me that you were a)confunsed and b)going to use the knowledge to irritate someone?

Anonymous said...

So wait, Marty's long flowing locks, chiseled features and smokey eyes do nothing for you?? Er..I mean.. ya, Marty is the better musician... I have to go play football or something...

Tenacious S said...

Fearless, don't worry, it's not lost on me. Just saying the initial crush was Steve. Like it matters! I don't take my old celebrity crushes very seriously.

Anonymous said...

How can you when there are so many NEW people to stalk?