5645

bela:
Yup, they don't miss a fucking thing. They are worried that my dogs are going to pee all over the apt because they are left all day.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:20:07 am)

bela:
Such a mess and tom is about at the end of his rope. Such a mess! Oh well.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:20:43 am)

bela:
Honestly I wish we could sell because I can't stand having something between me and tom tying us together.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:21:04 am)

Heruka:
hmm, very interesting.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:21:44 am)

Froupie:
it might be better just to sell up split the dough and cut the bond.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:21:48 am)

bela:
Oh no Heruka.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:23:06 am)

Froupie:
my landlady gives me strange looks, not that i care i dont see much of her. i think when i had my washing machine instaled she had a good look around the place.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:25:03 am)

Chewing Wax:
Wait till you fill the place up with pigs and little fascist Mexican dogs. It's going to be great.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:26:21 am)

Heruka:
hello.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:26:29 am)

Chewing Wax:
Poor bela.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:26:32 am)

Froupie:
she can like it or lump it.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:27:09 am)

Chewing Wax:
What kind of mortgage company would let you not have home owner's insurance. Mine lapsed for six seconds because of a fuck up with the insurance agent and my mortgage company slamed on insurance payments with my mortage bill. Six seconds.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:27:26 am)

bela:
I don't know CW, I don't know what the hell happened. I have no idea.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:28:09 am)

Froupie:
sell the palce, get your share and buy yourself a little chez nous for you and franco. you'll be much less stressed.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:29:14 am)

Heruka:

(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:29:16 am)

Heruka:

(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:30:32 am)

Chewing Wax:
That first one is funny.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:31:54 am)

Heruka:
I hate my job.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:32:33 am)

Froupie:
its dead quiet here. must be because its passover.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:42:53 am)

Heruka:

(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:45:57 am)

Froupie:
hey bela did i tell you i got my pinkspike top? she sent me funderwear with it
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:49:04 am)

bela:
Cool, that girl is really nice, Michelle.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:51:02 am)

bela:
I don't know what happened to my funderwear.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:51:13 am)

bela:
I just talked to tom he sounds better today - not so fatalistic.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:51:31 am)

Froupie:
yeah i told her you recommended me. i'm gonna order from her again, that top is so soft.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 11:51:36 am)

Chewing Wax:
I was going to ask what you are talking about but I decided not to.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 12:20:06 pm)

Froupie:
knickers
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 12:22:50 pm)

Froupie:
i mean pants
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 12:22:56 pm)

Chewing Wax:
Heruka, when are you setting sail?
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 12:29:35 pm)

Heruka:
The Church
Forget Yourself
[Cooking Vinyl; 2004]
Rating: 7.8

Whether it's the liberation of a century's end, or that a younger generation are so distracted by the bangs in their eyes, once-faltering guardians of good taste have turned out some excellent material the last few years. Wire, Bark Psychosis, Mission of Burma, and The Church are all proving there is potent ammunition left in the alt-rock canon.

After Arista dropped The Church following 1994's abysmal breakup album Sometime Anywhere, Australia's favorite sons shouldered a decade of personal conflicts, parenthood, and continental divide (their members have lived in different hemispheres for a decade now). Save the occasionally brilliant Magician Among the Spirits (1996), the fractured group's 1990s efforts never bore fruit, and a pair of single-disc retrospectives released alongside their creative nadir-- the flat covers record A Box of Birds (1999)-- made for harsh evidence of their fading glory.

Decidedly traditional, The Church drew from obvious sources-- The Beatles, the Stones, Neil Young-- but were blessed with a brilliant, unique guitarist in Marty Willson-Piper, and the effortless voice of frontman Steve Kilby. Breathy and far too theatrical on the band's early new wave records, the silky delivery Kilby cemented during The Church's paisley phase (1983-1986) ranks alongside 1980s icons Ian McCulloch, Matt Johnson, and Robyn Hitchcock as an unmistakable aspect of the decade's alternative rock landscape. If his overreaching and occasionally mystic lyrics continue unabated on Forget Yourself, they're once again buffered by the quality songwriting that made the saccharine Starfish anthem "Under the Milky Way" a Top 40 smash in America.

The lush opener "Sealine" heralds a complete retreat to the golden years of Gold Afternoon Fix (1990) and Starfish (1988), but the core sound of Forget Yourself embodies the focused intent outlined succinctly in the album's title. After a tentative first step (2002's After Everything Now This), The Church are out to reclaim their nearly squandered standing-- as one of few alternative rock acts to develop a solid catalog and enduring identity in the 1980s.

"Telepath" is certainly a look back on the band's heyday-- particularly Priest=Aura, their overlooked 1992 drone titan-- but notes of regret indicate they're mining darker times as well. Stratospherically layered vocals soar over the horizons of "Telepath" and "Song in Space", both swelling anthems driven by second drummer Tim Powles, who-- though he joined the band at the worst possible time (1994)-- brought a much-needed diversity to The Church's basic rhythm section. With the band's creativity back in full bore, his presence is a revelation-- most significantly on "Lay Low" and "Appalatia". On first listen, both songs appear to reach for relevance with bouncing, trendily compressed beats, but Willson-Piper's guitar leads are such a signature, there's no mistaking The Church for their followers. As he's always sold Kilby's altruistic wordplay, Willson-Piper capably updates his band's sound on more present-tense tracks like the excellent ballad "Maya" and upbeat, more experimental "Reversal".

Forget Yourself is no small resurrection, and though it owes a great deal to The Church's traditionalism, that's nothing to apologize for. Having quickly outgrown the image-heavy days of egotistical, romantic fatalism that so pigeonholed The Cure-- and never overestimating the significance of pop music as per R.E.M.-- The Church can raid their closet without fear of coming out in flares. While there's room for argument that parts of Forget Yourself are self-absorbed in their nostalgia (The Monkees chorus "You can't spend the whole song in space" is a glaring example), you could hardly accuse such steadfast, low profile musicians of opportunism. Besides, it's highly unlikely The Church will profit by looking in the mirror. Yet in doing so, they've granted fans what they wanted most: More of the same.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 12:39:47 pm)

Heruka:
late June, early July.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 12:39:59 pm)

Chewing Wax:
What do you think of Forget Yourself?
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 12:48:55 pm)

Heruka:
not a big fan of it.
(Tue Apr 6, 2004 - 12:57:49 pm)