The Church The Blurred Crusade

The Church master the art of ethereal melancholy on their robust second album. Following the New Wave eloquence of 1981’s chart-denting debut Of Skins and Heart, featuring their first major hit “The Unguarded Moment”, the Sydney band stepped confidently into another world on 1982’s shimmering psychedelic journey The Blurred Crusade. Opener “Almost With You” is a nearly perfect slice of pop with its jangly guitars, softly driving beat and frontman Steve Kilbey’s yearning vocals. That effortlessness extends throughout the album, highlighted by the intricate guitar interplay between Marty Willson-Piper and Peter Koppes. With riffs that balance The Byrds’ sparkle and Pink Floyd’s atmospherics, the duo heats up propulsive rockers like “When You Were Mine” and “Life Speeds Up”, while lending a brooding mystique to spacey reveries such as “Field of Mars”. Kilbey remains a poignant presence at the mic, proving to be as much a hopeless romantic as a surreal philosopher—just check the gently swaying “To Be In Your Eyes”, a jangle-pop gem that should’ve been ’80s soundtrack gold.