Search - Churchills :: You Are Here

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Cheryl E. Compton | Los Angeles, CA USA | 09/08/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"East coast fans lucky enough to own a copy of The Churchills' first independent release "Magnifique 400" will totally enjoy hearing the group's well-deserved progression into a full-blown pop rock force. However, newly-found converts will be parachuted smack-dab into the middle of a dozen songs with great lyrics, incredibly strong harmonies, and expertly executed guitars, bass and drums. One of the Churchills' strongest suits has always been their ability to switch back and forth between lead singers, but still keep the sound cohesive -- not an easy feat when two of the leads are guys -- guitarist Ron Haney and bassist Bart Schoudel -- and the other is the group's lone double X chromosome, guitarist Kim Henry. The Churchills' glue is their harmonies. These three vocalists were meant to sing together . You'll hit the repeat button more than once during the Beach Boys moment on "Gonna Take A Lot To Stay". In addition to the vocals, all four members of the band are virtuosos on their chosen instrument. A fairly recent addition to the band, drummer Phil Bloom is a natural addition to the mix. While the Churchills may remind you of some other groups -- XTC, Weezer, Jellyfish, even Badfinger and the Foo Fighters -- their work is far from derivative. They manage to pay homage to the music they love without ripping it off. It must have been difficult to be the A&R rep who had to help pick the first single on this album, as all of the songs are equally strong. The melancholic "Beautiful (Coulda Woulda)" has ended up with that notable distinction -- but "Headstrong", one of the albums more straight-forward rock anthems; "Disposable", a gloomy take on a doomed relationship; or "Mysticated Girl", a twisted tale of falling in love with a tarot card reader wrapped around some dirty guitar licks and a cappella harmonies, all could have easily been the first single off of "You Are Here". The album also features two newly revamped versions from their independent release "Maybe Make Me Okay" and "Everybody Gets What They Deserve", which was featured on two episodes of "Spin City" in a Jonathan Richman-esque moment -- where a big chunk of the band's newly recruited fans may have first heard them. Anyone who knew the songs sounded like before would be totally surprised to know that the band actually managed to improve on the original.It's time for the record label to put the Churchills on the road so everyone can enjoy what longtime fans on the east coast have known for years."

The Churchills Continue to Rule

Nicholas Poune | NYC | 09/01/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been going to see The Churchills play live in NYC city since 1997. In fact, Bart was kind enough to lend my old band a DAT player so we could record one of our live shows.But that's just background. I've been waiting for this disc for a long time now (the last single came out in 1998!), and I'm happy to say that the band does not disappoint.It's amazing to hear favorites like "Coulda Woulda," "Wrong Side of Bed" and "Maybe Make Me Okay" with such polished (but not over-polished) production. I've always loved seeing the band play live, and listening to these studio tracks gives the songs new life. Listening closely, you can hear subtle layers of guitars weaving in and out of the background, and the occasional keyboard augmenting an already solid part.The newer songs are just as good, with Ron's lyrics still witty and insightful. Bart's new tunes are great and Kimmy gives huge vocals on her tracks.The best thing about The Churchills is their unabashed love of melody. Generally, I'm not the biggest pop music fan, but if everyone could lay down rhythm and lead guitar, bass and drums like these cats, you couldn't stop me. The harmonies are the coolest thing about this band. If you don't believe me, have another listen to "Mysticated Girl," or "Maybe Make Me Okay." They sneak up on you until there's just a massive wall of sound, instruments and voices together.Favorites: "Maybe Make Me Okay," "Ex #1 Fan," "Headstrong," "Maybe Make Me Okay." Heck...the whole damn album. Do yourself a favor and pick it up."

Glad I got this album, but has it's weak moments.

S. Yen | Boston, MA United States | 08/11/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I had decided to pick up this album when I decided to track down the guys who sang that song in that one Spin City episode. The song was reminiscent of Elvis Costello in a good way and it warranted a try. The band turned out to be The Churchills and the song, "Everybody Gets What They Deserve", still remains a favorite of mine. The album was not what I expected however.Instead of an Elvis Costello feeling album, I found a hodgepodge of sounds. This is not to say bad or to be expected once I found out that there were as many as three different band members writing songs for this album. To be fair though, Kim Henry only wrote "Headstrong" on this album, which is an decent song, but too generic and not one of my favorites off this album. The other writers, Ron Haney and Bart Schoudel, turn out what turns out to be a better album than most. While I certainly don't mind playing this album all the way through, I only took 5 of the songs off the album to place in my personal (not shared with public) MP3 collection for when I'm working on my computer. In the end Haney beats out Schoudel 3 to 2 in my favorite 5 tracks."Everybody Gets What They Deserve" gets joined by "Beautiful (Coulda Woulda)" and "Gonna Take a Lot to Stay" as MP3 staples written by Haney. Like I said before though, the other songs don't sound anything like Elvis Costello or the other favorite comparison Jonathan Richman. Schoudel contributions on the other hand include "Cars" and "Wrong Side of Bed". It has been mentioned in a different review that "Cars" is reminiscent of the Beatles and that is the exact comparison I had offered my friends when I first heard the track.At any rate, one radio hit worthy song (Everybody Gets What They Deserve) along with a handful of personal favorites is pretty good, not to mention the rest of the album which is not painful to listen to as many albums are. The Churchills are definitely one of the better new bands I've taken in these past few years. Oh yes, the 3 star rating is a result of the disjointed feel of the album. Even the songs written by the same person have different feels to them. Although I mentioned that this album is listenable from top to bottom, it sometimes sounds like your not listenning to the same album. As this band matures, they should start to figure out which sounds work for them while hopefully remaining creative (too many bands figure out their sound, but lose their creative edge. Everclear comes to mind)."