The Church - Priest = Aura

Since breaking through from complete obscurity to semi-obscurity with Starfish, this Australian band have been getting consistently more interesting. Steve Kilbey has one of the most sarcastic voices in rock, and sings some very inventive songs here. The cryptic, wordy lyrics might be considered pretentious, but give the tracks a sneering feel. Their sound is distinctive, with crisp jangly guitars, but there are some influences of the more atmospheric side of 80's goth, particularly the Cure's later stuff (final instrumental "Film" could have been lifted straight off Disintegration).

"Aura" is catchy but over-long, and doesn't help to explain the album's enigmatic title! "Swan Lake"'s jaunty refrains are a perfect use of 2 minutes. The stand-out track is probably "The Disillusionist", with its savage chanting chorus and sustained tension. "Chaos" dabbles in psychedelia with a drawn out distortion jam.

July 8, 2003

8 out of 10

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