This is today’s geezer rock. Oh, it is such a loaded thing to tag on The Church. The connotations are “washed up”, “beyond their prime”, and “shouldn’t still be making records.” Just look at more visible “geezers” like The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith who are making records that are so boring and so irrelevant. But bands like The Church, New Order, and Echo & the Bunnymen, that we, discerning music listeners, grew up listening to in the 1980s are doing something different from The Stones and Aerosmith, they are making good records.

After Everything Now This is a title that is most apropos. It hints at irony, at being a joke as if they are laughing while uttering “After all the great records of the late 80s and early 90s, The Church still thinks they can make music that is viable and worthwhile.” But it also hints at the fact that this record is viable and worthwhile. Indeed.

The Church had seemingly lost their touch of neo-psychedelic pop soundscapes with sub-par efforts post 1990’s Gold Afternoon Fix (their last great record). While they have delivered here and there, most of their output had been misses rather than hits. With After Everything Now This, they have reversed the trend (it can be argued that 1998’s Hologram of Baal was a good record, it definitely wasn’t great). Steven Kilbey (vocals, bass), Marty Willson-Piper (guitars, vocals), Peter Koppes (guitars, vocals), and Tim Powles (drums, production) are The Church, and they return as a legitimate contender for Comeback of the Year. From the brooding “Numbers” to the epic crescendo of “Seen It Coming”, The Church takes you on a mind-numbing musical journey of multi-layered, guitar-jangled, finely-crafted songs. Dare I say, that the band does not miss a stride.

“The Awful Ache” opens with its tremolo guitar and mentally disturbed strings that softly tumble into a beautiful guitar/bass riff that move into the Big Sound (distorted “aching” guitars) flawlessly. The gorgeous rocker “Chromium” finds seminal guitarist Marty Willson-Piper on lead vocals, and marks the band at their most intense (recalling Heyday). The Church pulls out their old tricks on “Song for the Asking” while enhancing its tried and true motives with grand piano, drum loops, and sweetly angelic harmonies. “Reprieve” is a glorious straight-edge mind expanding number complete with searing changes that build on the more epic moments of Starfish and Gold Afternoon Fix. “Radiance”, the record’s defining moment, is a story song about visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the impact on those who experienced it. The melody is completely sublime, the changes are effortless, and the chorus finds Kilbey at his best vocally.

The Church has refused to emulate some alt-rock trend to capture new fans. There is no unneeded electronica or extra distorto guitars or plagiarized power pop tripe. They have made a record for where they are today. There is no “Under the Milky Way” Part Two. This is a record that lives in the present, not the past. And I couldn’t ask for anything more.

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