UNTITLED #23

The Church could be my favourite hit and miss band. When they really hit, they're amazing. When they miss, they still tend to do something interesting. _Untitled #23_ is no exception. One thing is for sure, they've left the '80s New Wave scene behind(not sure if they were New Wave to begin with, but they tend to get lumped in with the '80s due to their one hit wonder _Under The Milky Way_, which was an acoustic number). This, _Untitled #23_(which, in fact , gives it a title - so says Steven Kilby), I would consider their strongest effort since _Hologram Of Baal_ from 1998. One of the best tracks is _Happenstance_. Very spacy with a slide guitar that sounds like glissando guitar from Peter Koppes.. Steven Kilby delivers a great vocal. _Happenstance_ should be an alternative hit...or at least be recognized as a prog.pop masterpiece. _Pangaea_ is similar. Other great tracks have a tendency to be Floyd-y sounding(Saucerful Of Secrets/Atom Heart Mother-era). The track _Lunar_ starts out with a keyboard/flute which may be a mellotron. Generally, I can tell the difference, but with this one I cannot. _Lunar_ sounds like something that should be on Pink Floyd's _Meddle_ album, save the vocals of Steven Kilby which give it that distinct The Church feeling. _Operetta_ has to be their strongest stab at prog.rock since their classic track _The Great Machine_ from Hologram Of Baal with gorgeous piano, subdued french horn and the spacy keyboards). In short, if you enjoyed The Church's HOLOGRAM of BAAL, you can't go wrong with _Untitled #23_. Honourable mention and kudos should go out to Marty Wilson-Piper once again for great guitar work(as well as Peter Koppes...The Church's secret weapon).