Steve Kilbey
(Second Motion)
In their twenty five-year career, the Australian band known as the Church has
become almost as well known for the parallel solo careers they've spun off as
for the band's common trajectory. Bassist
Steve Kilbey provides a case in point; with seven outings on his own, he's
carved an individual identity that parallels the band's collective
efforts.
Painkiller is Kilbey's first album in seven years, which makes this return all the more noteworthy. However, any significant divergence from his - and for that matter, the band's - signature sound is practically negligible. Like the group itself, Kilbey wraps his music in a cosmic sheen, an ambitious, aggressive assault that combines ambient noise, tangled psychedelia, cosmic ruminations and soaring, anthemic melodies. Within that template there's a wide disparity, one that ranges from a more accessible stance (the effusive "Wolfe," the strum and swirl of "Song for the Masking," the cool croon of "Look Homeward Angel") to weirder mélanges which bank on shimmering undercurrents and spectral effects ("Outbound," "File Under Travel"). Then there are songs like "Oenone," which for all intents and purposes simply defies description, given that it samples the traditional tune "Old Susannah" as part of its atmospheric ambiance.
Ultimately, Painkiller becomes the antidote for pop music that's pedestrian and predictable, a sprawling, challenging kaleidoscopic work of epic proportions. It's not necessarily an easy listen, but it does provide an intriguing encounter that veers far from the ordinary.
Standout Tracks: "Wolfe," "Song for the Masking" LEE ZIMMERMAN
