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CHRIS CHURCH (Lenoir, NC)

It's been hard to miss the continuing rise of Lenoir, NC's CHRIS CHURCH on the global pop rock scene over the past decade or so. Recent releases like 2017's textbook power pop masterpiece Limitations of Source Tape, 2020's exploration of “Heavy Melody” Backwards Compatible and his lo-fi-tinged Big Stir Records debut Game Dirt in 2021 have topped countless critics' “Year's Best” lists. It's equally easy to hear, if harder to pin down, why Church's music reaches beyond the boundaries of the power pop form. Undoubtedly, he possesses the requisite command of melody and a powerful, instantly-recognizable vocal presence, but his compositions have an unforced depth and visceral openness that can't be learned. Simply put, Church's tunes have what Neil Young – one of an eclectic clutch of keystone influences – would call “the spook”. 

Church has followed diverse paths over 30 years of being an original musician. He has performed, written and recorded with power pop bands (The Jones, Junkflower, Chalky), progressive hard rock / metal bands (Flat Earth, Däng), a noisy oddball band that defies categorization (Jack Sabbath), and recorded a concept album of what could be described as "art pop" based on the writings of Krishnamurti and Herman Hesse (Echoism). Even the string of acclaimed "pop" albums of recent years, first on SpyderPop Records and more recently on BSR (including the 2022 release of the deeply personal sludge-pop classic Darling Please after years on the shelf) evince a restless creativity to match Church's pure talent. As 2023 dawns, Church is ready to surprise  -- and delight -- his fans all over again, with a new album and a new sound.

The bracing, sleek pop of RADIO TRANSIENT is at once a radical departure from the Crazy Horse-informed bleariness of Darling Please, and a natural setting for songs and singing that are unmistakably Chris Church. Drawing on key inspirations this time around from Lindsey Buckingham, Hall & Oates and The Fixx and the talents of drummer NICK BERTLING, harmonist LINDSAY MURRAY (Gretchen's Wheel) and co-producer/spouse LORI FRANKLIN, Church has created an alternate pop universe unto itself on the new record. Propulsive beats, sparkling and almost exclusively clean 12-string electrics, and insistent synths set RADIO TRANSIENT apart from any other record in Chris's catalog. Anchored by the songcraft and vocal firepower we've come to expect, the result is both uniquely quirky and perhaps Church's most accessible record to date -- just dive into the single "Going 'Til We Go" or the irresistible "I Don't Wanna Dance With Me" and you'll hear what we mean.  More than just the best record that should have come out in 1987, it's very much of its time, it is, in a word, intoxicating... an early but potent contender for Album Of The Year, and more than "just" another triumph from CHRIS CHURCH. Look for it in record stores and streaming everywhere this February.

Darling Please: CD
  • Darling Please: CD

Darling Please: CD

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Big Stir Records is proud to announce our first major album release of 2022: DARLING PLEASE from celebrated North Carolina singer-songwriter CHRIS CHURCH. Recorded eleven years ago and seeing full-scale release for the first time in a newly remastered version (courtesy of audio maestro NICK BERTLING and adorned with newly tracked backing vocals from LINDSAY MURRAY of GRETCHEN'S WHEEL), the album is out on CD and digital January 21 and features the lead single “Bad Summer”. It's up for preorder at www.bigstirrecords.com, www.bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com, and on sale everywhere music is sold or streamed on the release date.

The new record sees the genre-hopping CHURCH in a raw rock mode, with dominant Crazy Horse-style guitars topped with some of the most immediate and aching vocal performances in Chris's catalog. The emotionally direct and often elegiac tone of DARLING PLEASE derived in large part from its origins: “I made the album in my basement studio,” says Church. “It was and is dedicated with love to my late great brother Mike Church, who'd passed not long prior to my decision to start this project. It was actually the first time I'd played all instruments on an entire album.” The self-produced ethic makes the album a forerunner to last year's acclaimed, home-recorded GAME DIRT, but DARLING is if anything even more visceral.

Opening with the rough, ready and stately “History” and diving directly into the “Satisfaction”-beat rocker “We're Going Downtown,” the album pays overt and indirect tribute to Mike Church (who'd played drums on most of Chris's earlier music) on a number of tracks. The Sugar-inflected “Pillar To Post” finds the singer feeling "like a guest and a host, like taking a walk with my own ghost" while Church describes the loping “Never So Far Away” as “my legit attempt to bridge loss and love, the big struggles, mortality, how the same old stuff still surprises us no matter how repetitive.” “We Could Pretend” channels “all of what it takes to cope... The hugeness is empty, and vice versa” over a “Cinnamon Girl” groove, and closing track “Triple Crown” sees Church on the drums, recreating Mike's restrained approach from live performances of the song.

Elsewhere, the empathetic backing vocals of Lindsay Murray (who also designed the sleeve art) illuminate the choruses of the single “Bad Summer” and the whole of “Atlantic”. Both tunes are sharp and heartfelt character studies derived from Church's circle of friends at the time. “I Wish I Could Say I Was Sorry” opens with a guitar and piano workout that sets the stage for one of the album's most indelible choruses, again spotlighting Murray. And “Nepenthean” dives into psychedelic sludge to immersive effect.

Gripping and emotive, DARLING PLEASE is a belated but essential addition to the CHRIS CHURCH catalog, following on the heels of the 2021 relaunches of his SpyderPop Records albums Backwards Compatible and Limitations of Source Tape. More than a relic, it's a rewardingly rough-hewn gem deserving of inspection and a sincere tribute to a musical and familial brother, and it stands among Church's very best.

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Game Dirt: CD
  • Game Dirt: CD

Game Dirt: CD

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Game Dirt: CD

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The new album from Chris Church on CD in an album replica gatefold with lyrics booklet. Track list:

1 Learn 2 Falderal 3 Fall 4 Gravity 5 Lost 6 Trying 7 Hang 8 Know 9 Down 10 Smile 11 Removed 12 Praise 13 Sunrise

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The SpyderPop Albums: Two CDs
  • The SpyderPop Albums: Two CDs

The SpyderPop Albums: Two CDs

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The SpyderPop Albums: Two CDs

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"Backwards Compatible" and "Limitations Of Source Tape" as separate album replica gatefold CDs

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Limitations of Source Tape: CD
  • Limitations of Source Tape: CD

Limitations of Source Tape: CD

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Limitations of Source Tape: CD

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CD in album replica gatefold sleeve

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Backwards Compatible: CD
  • Backwards Compatible: CD

Backwards Compatible: CD

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CD in album replica gatefold sleeve

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Going 'Til We Go by Chris Church

Going 'Til We Go

Chris Church

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Going 'Til We Go

Chris Church
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Acclaimed North Carolina-based singer-songwriter CHRIS CHURCH is back with a new single – and a new sound! -- this Friday, February 17. The all-new “Going 'Til We Go” is the global pop world's first tease of the forthcoming album RADIO TRANSIENT that Chris has been hinting at and Big Stir Records is soon to officially announce. The single will be

Acclaimed North Carolina-based singer-songwriter CHRIS CHURCH is back with a new single – and a new sound! -- this Friday, February 17. The all-new “Going 'Til We Go” is the global pop world's first tease of the forthcoming album RADIO TRANSIENT that Chris has been hinting at and Big Stir Records is soon to officially announce. The single will be streaming everywhere on the street date with pre-order/pre-save live now (https://orcd.co/chrischurch-gtwg), and more details on RADIO TRANSIENT are soon to come as “Going 'Til We Go” hits guitar-pop airwaves all over the world.

From its opening synth figure to the hyperkinetic drumming (courtesy of Nick Bertling) to the sleek, clean, '80-inspired guitar lines, “Going 'Til We Go” is an instant earworm and a sonic departure for CHRIS CHURCH. But it couldn't be anyone else: the unmistakable vocal presence and the irresistible hooks of the chorus make it clear that while the sound may be new, it's pop songwriting at its finest, emotive and inviting. Chris tells us why “Going 'Til We Go” is emblematic of the direction of the new record:

“This song captures the essence of what I was going for musically when I began writing this album. I was looking for the crossroads between Lindsey Buckingham, The Fixx, and '80s Hall & Oates. There are aspects of those influences in most of the songs on this album, but this song is the first one I wrote for it. Achieving the sound I had in mind was greatly aided, and somewhat restrained in a positive way, by the fact that i forced myself to use only my 12-string Danelectro guitar. It captured the thin 'silvery' sound I wanted. As on all the songs on the album, Bertling's frenetic drums are fantastic and really drive the song, and Lindsay Murray's backing vocals play such an important role in the big picture.”

With the sound set in place, and as always with CHRIS CHURCH, the songs take center stage, and “Going” is one of the sweetest and most heartfelt tunes on the new record. “The lyrics here are somewhat metaphor but largely literal, about how my wife Lori is my biggest concern, with a nod to the fact that we like to sit outside on our deck talking, fixing all the problems of the world and listening to music all evening. just reminding her that i'm always going to be there for her, in the moment as well as in general, until we both 'go inside'.” Not everything on the record is as tender, but it's all just as invigorating and original, and sure to be one of the year's most celebrated releases. Big Stir Records can't wait to bring it all to you this March.

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    Going 'Til We Go 3:21
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Darling Please by Chris Church

Darling Please

Chris Church

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Darling Please

Chris Church
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Big Stir Records is proud to announce our first major album release of 2022: DARLING PLEASE from celebrated North Carolina singer-songwriter CHRIS CHURCH. Recorded eleven years ago and seeing full-scale release for the first time in a newly remastered version (courtesy of audio maestro NICK BERTLING and adorned with newly tracked backing vocals

Big Stir Records is proud to announce our first major album release of 2022: DARLING PLEASE from celebrated North Carolina singer-songwriter CHRIS CHURCH. Recorded eleven years ago and seeing full-scale release for the first time in a newly remastered version (courtesy of audio maestro NICK BERTLING and adorned with newly tracked backing vocals from LINDSAY MURRAY of GRETCHEN'S WHEEL), the album is out on CD and digital January 21 and features the lead single “Bad Summer”. It's up for preorder at www.bigstirrecords.com, www.bigstirrecords.bandcamp.com, and on sale everywhere music is sold or streamed on the release date.

The new record sees the genre-hopping CHURCH in a raw rock mode, with dominant Crazy Horse-style guitars topped with some of the most immediate and aching vocal performances in Chris's catalog. The emotionally direct and often elegiac tone of DARLING PLEASE derived in large part from its origins: “I made the album in my basement studio,” says Church. “It was and is dedicated with love to my late great brother Mike Church, who'd passed not long prior to my decision to start this project. It was actually the first time I'd played all instruments on an entire album.” The self-produced ethic makes the album a forerunner to last year's acclaimed, home-recorded GAME DIRT, but DARLING is if anything even more visceral.

Opening with the rough, ready and stately “History” and diving directly into the “Satisfaction”-beat rocker “We're Going Downtown,” the album pays overt and indirect tribute to Mike Church (who'd played drums on most of Chris's earlier music) on a number of tracks. The Sugar-inflected “Pillar To Post” finds the singer feeling "like a guest and a host, like taking a walk with my own ghost" while Church describes the loping “Never So Far Away” as “my legit attempt to bridge loss and love, the big struggles, mortality, how the same old stuff still surprises us no matter how repetitive.” “We Could Pretend” channels “all of what it takes to cope... The hugeness is empty, and vice versa” over a “Cinnamon Girl” groove, and closing track “Triple Crown” sees Church on the drums, recreating Mike's restrained approach from live performances of the song.

Elsewhere, the empathetic backing vocals of Lindsay Murray (who also designed the sleeve art) illuminate the choruses of the single “Bad Summer” and the whole of “Atlantic”. Both tunes are sharp and heartfelt character studies derived from Church's circle of friends at the time. “I Wish I Could Say I Was Sorry” opens with a guitar and piano workout that sets the stage for one of the album's most indelible choruses, again spotlighting Murray. And “Nepenthean” dives into psychedelic sludge to immersive effect.

Gripping and emotive, DARLING PLEASE is a belated but essential addition to the CHRIS CHURCH catalog, following on the heels of the 2021 relaunches of his SpyderPop Records albums Backwards Compatible and Limitations of Source Tape. More than a relic, it's a rewardingly rough-hewn gem deserving of inspection and a sincere tribute to a musical and familial brother, and it stands among Church's very best.

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    Pillar To Post 3:28
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    Never So Far Away 4:13
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    Atlantic 3:57
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    Bad Summer 5:05
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    I Wish I Could Say I Was Sorry 4:30
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    Nepenthean 3:16
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    We Could Pretend 4:33
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    Triple Crown 4:31
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Backwards Compatible by Chris Church

Backwards Compatible

Chris Church

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Backwards Compatible

Chris Church
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Backwards Compatible: CD

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One of two fine CHRIS CHURCH records being relaunched for 2021 by Big Stir as part of the SPYDERPOP ALBUMS package, BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE had the misfortune to see its initial release in the very first month of the COVID-19 pandemic. That unavoidable accident of timing meant that a large swath of music fans missed out on Church's ambitious

One of two fine CHRIS CHURCH records being relaunched for 2021 by Big Stir as part of the SPYDERPOP ALBUMS package, BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE had the misfortune to see its initial release in the very first month of the COVID-19 pandemic. That unavoidable accident of timing meant that a large swath of music fans missed out on Church's ambitious reimagining of what he calls “Heavy Melody,” the '80s intersection of hard rock and power pop too easily dismissed by the hipsters of today. “The fun is relentless, and that is what this music is. A backdrop of wholesome music with depth... One thing is undeniable, this passion injected work is a breath of fresh air far removed from the current monotonous tones that dull the airwaves,” wrote Kevin Burke of THE BIG TAKEOVER, while POWER OF POP called it “a literal godsend, evoking the likes of Cheap Trick, Guided By Voices, Splitsville, Fountains of Wayne et al with 12 gorgeous gems that bear repeating.”

Further accolades from the likes of I DON'T HEAR A SINGLE (“No one is making an album like this these days. The guitar is back, thank God!”), THERE ONCE WAS A NOTE (“a pure shot of rock and roll adrenaline at a time when we need it most”) and MONOLITH COCKTAIL (“this album was born to be played on the radio”) testify to the fact that BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE remains an uplifting gem overlooked in the tumult of dark times, and one ripe for rediscovery. The riff-driven, radio-ready “Left In The Summer,” which kicks off the new single, hints at the heavy, melodic would-be hits that comprise the collection.

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    Dumb It Up 3:24
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    Begin Again 3:57
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    No Letting Go 3:42
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    What R U 3:45
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    You Are the Thunder 4:42
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    These Daze 3:53
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    Too Deep 3:56
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    Left in the Summer 3:42
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    Coulda Fooled Me 3:30
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    Kiss It Goodnight 3:47
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    Pop Dreams 3:44
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Limitations of Source Tape by Chris Church

Limitations of Source Tape

Chris Church

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Limitations of Source Tape

Chris Church
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Now being relaunched for 2021 by Big Stir as part of the SPYDERPOP ABUMS package, LIMITATIONS OF SOURCE TAPE, Church's 2017 debut for SpyderPop, was for many their introduction to his work and remains an essential touchstone for those just now discovering him. Although far from the first release in his genre-hopping career, L.O.S.T.'s pristine and

Now being relaunched for 2021 by Big Stir as part of the SPYDERPOP ABUMS package, LIMITATIONS OF SOURCE TAPE, Church's 2017 debut for SpyderPop, was for many their introduction to his work and remains an essential touchstone for those just now discovering him. Although far from the first release in his genre-hopping career, L.O.S.T.'s pristine and passionate pop ushered in Chris's now-customary dominance of Year's Best Album lists (GOLDMINE, IDHAS, THE LITTLE LIGHTHOUSE, TWIRL RADIO and more). “Something Completely” is only a core sample of the record's depth of melody... the marriage of diverse guitar textures, emotively inventive lyrics and Chris's unmistakable, impassioned vocals remains just as potent today as it did upon the record's release. No comprehensive collection of the best of the 21st Century guitar pop can be said to be complete without it.

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    Pollyanna's Going Dark 4:27
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    Something Completely 3:29
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    Intransitive Proverb 2:47
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    Ostinato 4:52
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    Bell the Cat 3:30
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    Understudy Blues 2:47
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    Take a Knee 3:37
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    I Can Feel the Echo 3:50
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    Worse Things Happen at Sea 3:39
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    Consciousness Fade 5:10
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    Perfecto 3:44
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    Be My Nuisance 3:34
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    Better the Devil You Know 2:54
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Game Dirt by Chris Church

Game Dirt

Chris Church

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Game Dirt

Chris Church
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Big Stir Records is proud to announce the March 27 release of the new album from CHRIS CHURCH, GAME DIRT. It's the esteemed singer-songwriter's debut for BSR, a self-produced collection with Chris playing all the instruments on 13 brand new tunes. GAME DIRT is up for preorder now on CD and digital formats at www.bigstirrecords.com/store and

Big Stir Records is proud to announce the March 27 release of the new album from CHRIS CHURCH, GAME DIRT. It's the esteemed singer-songwriter's debut for BSR, a self-produced collection with Chris playing all the instruments on 13 brand new tunes. GAME DIRT is up for preorder now on CD and digital formats at www.bigstirrecords.com/store and everywhere music is sold or streamed.

It's been hard to miss the continuing rise of Lenoir, NC's CHRIS CHURCH on the global pop rock scene over the past decade. Recent releases like 2017's Limitations of Source Tape and 2020's exploration of “Heavy Melody” Backwards Compatible have topped countless critics' “Year's Best” lists. It's equally easy to hear, if harder to pin down, why Church's music reaches beyond the boundaries of the power pop form. Undoubtedly, he possesses the requisite command of melody and a powerful, instantly-recognizable vocal presence, but his compositions have an unforced depth and visceral openness that can't be learned. Simply put, Church's tunes have what Neil Young – one of an eclectic clutch of keystone influences – would call “the spook”.

Church has followed diverse paths over 30 years of being an original musician. In addition to his solo work, he's performed, written and recorded with power pop bands and progressive hard rock/metal outfits and taken detours into musical experimentalism and composition for performance art pieces. Recently he's moved into new roles both in the studio (as a producer) and onstage (frequently with the star-studded Nashville-based cover band The Long Players).

Chris's brand new album GAME DIRT is once again something different and new, even by the standards of his exploratory career. It's less a response to the musical challenges of the pandemic era than the result of simply hitting “record” and seeing what happens. The final record reflects a looser, more straight ahead rock and roll element, adding a pinch of alt-country and '90s indie styles in with his pop rock sensibilities. Literally left to his own devices, Church has tapped into a new source of urgent creativity that might not have surfaced in a more perfect world.

Kicking off with the boisterous lead single “Learn” (from which Lindsay Murray's artwork takes its baseball-themed cues) and diving into the brief, insistent “Falderal” – yes, all the tunes have one word titles – the album's immediacy is clear from the outset. “Fall”, with its stately groove and intricate jangle, brings the implicit melancholy of the record into focus: “You can't just ignore that you're far too critical of yourself” might be the key sentiment here. Not that Chris is telling... perhaps more than ever, the lyrics are intentionally open to interpretation, and on the following track, the gorgeous mandolin-ornamented “Gravity”, the listener may hear the references to a fever that never comes down and “the death of subtlety” as reflections of either the realities of 2020, a more internal landscape, or the hazy crossroads where the two intersect.

As Game Dirt unfolds, Church makes it clear that, musically, the only rule is that there are no rules. It's thus that the twangy No Depression vibes of “Lost” and “Smile” rub shoulders with the epic “Trying”, awash with shifting time changes and bittersweet major-7th chords. There are the crunching riffs and searing solos of “Hang”, and there's “Know” (as in “know your enemy”), which sounds like the Brian Jones and Mick Taylor iterations of the Stones playing at the same time. There's the '90s alt-rock march of “Down”, the near-new-wave stutter of “Praise”, and a pair of sparkling Big Star-worthy ballads in “Removed” and the closing “Sunrise”. Each one is draped with hooks and indelible choruses that easily stand with those of their influences.

In less subtle hands and less uncertain times, the album might play as a virtuoso rock and roll history lesson. But Game Dirt is digging at something deeper than that, as Church leaves the edges rough and favors truth over polish this time out. It's an inward-looking record for inward-looking times, the sound of an artist pushing his own limits not just musically but lyrically as well, and there's a lot of stark emotion on display. While it's fluidly grafted onto the genre conventions of more songwriterly tunes like “Learn”, “Lost” and “Smile” (although the latter contains the telling line “I'm content to reinvent the undefined”), the looser compositions sport murkier, often dark stream-0f-consciousness musings. “Removed” opens with the words “anatomy of a failure”. “Falderal” begins “and I see for the first time, and everything is black”, its title signifying “nothing left of substance”. The title of “Trying” Is simply the end of the phrase “you can die trying”.

That's not to say that Game Dirt is bleak so much as it is unflinching, and all the more rewarding for it. One only needs to look at the tunes bookending the record to see that Church is spotlighting honesty, especially with oneself, as the key to growth. “Learn” is so cheerfully swinging that you might miss it: “When you're just about to sort it all out, that's the best time to doubt”. And it's no accident that Chris chooses to end the record on a note of hope that doesn't shy away from the weariness familiar to many of us at the start of 2021: “I just want to feel all right... tired of hearing the worst everybody's got to say, so I'm gonna find myself a brand new way to look for the sunrise.” That new way is, in a very real sense, what's heard all across the record.

Those who know Chris Church's music have come to expect an attention to pop songwriting craft, but here he reinvents himself to create a record celebrating reinvention. The fact that Chris plays all the instruments on Game Dirt with a hint of abandon and produced and mixed it himself with a distinctly non-modern sonic approach proves again how his disregard for expectations remains intact. So too does his gift for following a song wherever it may lead, and giving it the passionate delivery it deserves. So too, perhaps more than ever, does the spook.

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  1. 1
    Learn 2:26
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  2. 2
    Falderal 1:41
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  3. 3
    Fall 2:56
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  4. 4
    Gravity 3:55
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  5. 5
    Lost 3:25
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  6. 6
    Trying 6:12
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  7. 7
    Hang 3:12
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  8. 8
    Know 3:39
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  9. 9
    Down 3:43
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  10. 10
    Smile 2:34
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  11. 11
    Removed 2:54
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  12. 12
    Praise 3:30
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  13. 13
    Sunrise 3:32
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