The Church – Starfish (Second Motion)

Second Motion’s series of Church reissues continues with a two-disk version of Starfish, the Australian quartet’s most famous album. For American fans, this is the LP that began the band’s pop culture journey, due to its top 40 single “Under the Milky Way” and college radio hit “Reptile.” It’s not unusual for an artist’s most popular record to contain a couple of classic singles and little else, but that’s not the case here. In many ways, Starfish is the culmination of what the Church had been working toward on its previous albums and EPs, as the band’s mix of folky jangle pop, anthemic guitar rock and swirling psychedelia reaches a meticulously balanced apex. Guitarists Peter Koppes and Marty Willson-Piper perfect their signature guitar blend, blurring the lines between lead and rhythm, riff and fill, so completely it’s impossible to tell who’s playing what. Singer Steve Kilbey‘s lyrics are at their most lucid, while still retaining just enough enigma to keep listeners guessing. Drummer Richard Ploog, under the often iron-fisted tutelage of co-producer Waddy Wachtel, gives his most taut performance on a Church record, nailing the songs to the earth even when they threaten to fly off into inner space.

While the band is on a roll as performers, it’s the combination of its musical command with a superlative set of songs that makes Starfish a landmark in the group’s catalog. Refining its sense of melody even further than it had on its previous LP Heyday, the Church almost casually knocks out gem after guitar pop gem here. The loping opener “Destination” and the waltz-time sparkler “Antenna” gently but firmly paint psychedelic portraits of restlessness and curiosity. The spiky “Blood Money” mixes gentle balladic verses and a driving chorus with nervous guitars and Kilbey’s casually delivered invective: “There’s such a big demand for blood money.” Somehow both insular and expansive, ringing guitars and sweeping choruses buoy Kilbey’s plaintive introspection on “Lost” and the underrated masterpiece “Hotel Womb.” The bouncy “A New Season” (written and sung by Koppes) and the briskly rocking “Spark” (Wilsson-Piper’s showcase) provide the record’s most forthright tunes.

“North, South, East and West” may be the record’s highest of high points, a near-perfect combination of everything – guitar interplay, brooding melody, widescreen feel – that makes the Church great. And, of course, there are the singles, rightly chosen for their compelling power. The shimmering acid folk rock of “Under the Milky Way” and the interlocking guitar riffs and sneering chorus of “Reptile” (probably the band’s most trenchant tribute to Television) are considered Church classics for good reason, holding up to literally thousands of spins.

The bonus tracks for this edition are numerous enough to require their own disk. Mostly demos recorded for the album, many of these tracks appeared previously on the long out-of-print ephemera collection A Quick Smoke at Spot’s. Unsurprisingly, most of these tunes aren’t as compelling as the songs chosen for the album proper, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth hearing. “Texas Moon” and “Anna Miranda” build up nicely hazy heads of psychedelic steam, while “Warm Spell” is a surprisingly successful foray into Haircut 100 lite funk-pop. “Frozen and Distant” is a fine Church anthem that likely would have been included on the LP if it didn’t parrot a line from “Under the Milky Way.” Speaking of which, it, “Antenna” and “Spark” are represented in acoustic versions recorded to provide alternates for radio, and all three sound grand, presaging the band’s excellent acoustic records 20 years later. “Spark” in particular cooks, bringing the same caffeinated energy to the acoustic take as to the electric. Ultimately, of course, it’s Starfish itself that’s the main attraction here, as it should be – the album is simply the Church at its best.

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