The Church – Deep in the Shallows: The Classic Singles Collection (Second Motion)

The Church has been best known as a group best suited to full-length musical statements that unfold without worrying about hits. That’s what the quartet’s fans expect and that’s the way the band likes it. It must be a shock to everyone, then, that Deep in the Shallows reveals the Church to be a helluva singles act. These two disks collect 34 songs (not 32 – the liner notes accidentally omit “Easy” and “Unified Field” on disk 2) from across the band’s three decade career, and there’s barely a stinker in the bunch.

Hardcore fans might argue of the superiority of the first disk, which covers the band’s first eight years, from its new wavey 1981 debut single “She Never Said” to its international breakthrough, 1988’s shimmering slice of psychedelia “Under the Milky Way.” In between are classic pop tunes (“Almost With You,” “Tantalized,” “It’s No Reason,” “Columbus,” “The Unguarded Moment”) and moodier, more experimental fare (“Destination,” “Already Yesterday,” “Antenna”), all of which sparkle and shine. More importantly, the disk gathers up a handful of single/EP-only cuts, including the early new wave tunes “Too Fast For You” and “Tear It All Away,” the drifting “A Different Man” and the ephemeral (and, it must be said, self-indulgent) “Constant in Opal.” Admittedly, it’s a track record that’s hard to match.

But disk 2 does it. Starting off with the great singles (the catchy “Metropolis,” sarcastic “You’re Still Beautiful” and rocking “Russian Autumn Heart”) from 1989’s much-maligned Gold Afternoon Fix, the disk moves through all the way through the band’s most recent album, 2009’s psychedelic masterpiece Untitled #23. The post Gold material is less well-known than the band’s 80s work, but that doesn’t mean it’s of lesser quality. “Unified Field,” “Easy” and “Feel” showcase more sterling pop songs, while the grungy “Comedown” and the driving epic “Block” bring a more menacing side out to play. But the latter half of the Church’s career finds it diving deep into the psychedelic side of its personality, from the brooding “Numbers” and the lush “Pangea” to the floating “Song in Space” and the elegiac “Operetta” and “Two Places at Once” (the only track in the band’s catalog to feature both bassist Steve Kilbey and guitarist Marty Willson-Piper on lead vocals). The group’s cosmic acid journey finds its ultimate expression in the magnificent “Ripple,” a track so perfect a statement of purpose it’s the quintessential Church moment. Only the gimmicky “Welcome,” driven by the lazy writer’s trick of listing names in a lame attempt to pay tribute to dead artists, falls flat, and it’s nearly saved by some fine guitar work and a typically solid melody.

One might argue there’s no substitute for hearing these songs in the context of the Church’s albums, since the band usually has a unified aesthetic in mind when it hits the studio. But having the quartet’s most melodic moments collected in one place makes for a damn near irresistible listening experience, even for the diehard. Besides, the band’s records can be a challenge for the casual listener, which makes Deep in the Shallows a perfect way to introduce those fans to the wider world of the Church.

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