The Church (band)

The Church
The Church in 2015
The Church in 2015
Background information
OriginSydney, Australia
Genres
Years active1980–present
Labels
SpinoffsThe Refo:mation
Members
Past members
Websitethechurchband.net

The Church are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave, neo-psychedelia, and indie rock, their music later came to feature slower tempos and surreal soundscapes reminiscent of alternative rock, dream pop, and post-rock. Glenn A. Baker has written that "From the release of the 'She Never Said' single in November 1980, this unique Sydney-originated entity has purveyed a distinctive, ethereal, psychedelic-tinged sound which has alternatively found favour and disfavour in Australia."[2] The Los Angeles Times has described the band's music as "dense, shimmering, exquisite guitar pop".[3]

The founding members were Steve Kilbey on lead vocals and bass guitar, Peter Koppes and Marty Willson-Piper on guitars, and Nick Ward on drums. Ward played only on their debut album, and the band's drummer for the rest of the 1980s was Richard Ploog. Jay Dee Daugherty (ex-Patti Smith Group) played drums from 1990 to 1993, followed by "timEbandit" Tim Powles (ex-The Venetians), who remains with them to the present day. Koppes left the band from 1992 to 1997,[4] and Willson-Piper left in 2013. Ian Haug, formerly of Powderfinger, replaced him. Kilbey, Koppes, and Powles also recorded together as the Refo:mation in 1997.

The Church's debut album, Of Skins and Heart (1981), delivered their first radio hit, "The Unguarded Moment", and they were signed to major labels in Australia, Europe, and the United States. However, the US label, dissatisfied with their second album, dropped the band without releasing it. This put a dent in their success in the US, but they returned to the charts in 1988 with the album Starfish and the US Top 40 hit "Under the Milky Way". Subsequent mainstream success has proved elusive, but the band retains a large international cult following and were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in Sydney in 2010. The Church continue to tour and record, releasing their 25th studio album, Man Woman Life Death Infinity, in October 2017, and their 27th and most recent, Eros Zeta and the Perfumed Guitars, in March 2024.

  1. ^ Israel, Janine (15 July 2014). "The Church – Under the Milky Way: an accidental Australian anthem". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  2. ^ Glenn A. Baker, sleeve note to Of Skins and Heart EMI CD 8297652
  3. ^ Quoted on back of sleeve, Of Skins and Heart EMI Cd 829652
  4. ^ "Features | A Quietus Interview | The Past, Present & Future of the Church: An Interview With Peter Koppes". The Quietus. Retrieved 25 July 2016.