J Church - Quetzalcoatl LP

Allied (1993)

I've said it a few times over the years, but J Church is on of those bands that I didn't appreciate enough when they were still active.  I had a bunch of split 7"s with their songs on them, typically from buying the record due to the other band.  I had the Camels, Spilled Caronas... picture disc (which I sold or traded away at some point over the years) and I even went to go see them play at The Pipeline in Newark once.  I've said all of this before, but it's only been in recent years that I've really given J Church a real chance.  And predictably, I've tended to like just about everything.

Quetzalcoatl is the first J Church full length.  While I probably don't like it quite as much as I like Arbor Vitae, it's a really strong record packed full of big hooks and sing along choruses.  It's pop punk, but it's pop punk that's more rooted in a punk place than some of the more popular goofy stuff that had the spotlight shone on it so brightly in the mid 90s.  I feel like J Church has way more in common with early Snuff or Leatherface than they do with some of their US contemporaries like Green Day or Mr. T Experience.

But yeah, long story short is that I totally messed up and should have bought their records back then instead of waiting until nearly thirty years later.  I'm going to try to grab their full lengths and probably the singles comps at some point, but I don't think I'll ever dive into their 7"s too much.  That insane singles discography is one of the reasons I found buying their records to be somewhat intimidating back in the 90s.

J Church - Racked 7"

Vagrant (1995)

"Racked" is the song that got me to give J Church another chance recently.  Prior to hearing "Racked" it was the combination of an intimidating discography and having heard mediocre songs by them when I first became aware of the band that kept me from really pursuing any of their records.  "Racked" was such a perfect song that it made me give them another try, and I'm quite glad I did.  Arbor Vitae has become a frequently played LP and I'm starting down that dark path to pick up a few more of their records.  While I don't think I'll ever have the courage to tackle their entire discography (it really is insane), I am going to search out the highlights.  

I wasn't even planning to get the Racked 7" yet, but a friend of mine was purging it from his collection and I figured it would be a great addition to the jukebox project.  Sadly that project is on hold, but at least I have a few new J Church songs.  The way "Racked" combines the upbeat chorus, palm mutes and harmonics in the solo, it really is just an amazing two minutes.  I would encourage everyone to start there if you aren't familiar with the band.

On the B side we have two more songs.  The first is "Mary's Moving Out."  This one is a smash hit as well.  A blisteringly noisy guitar squall starts things off, giving way to a fast paced and dynamic verse.  It's a really short song, but it's excellent.  The last song on this 7" is "You Fucking Trick."  This one isn't your standard J Church pop punk, it sounds more like one of those noisy, sludgy songs Fluf would sneak onto their albums.  It's not awful, but it isn't for me.  Still, just for the first two songs I'd recommend checking this out, especially if you've been looking for an easy entry point into the vast J Church discography.

J Church - "Racked":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbmJDUtKk84

J Church - "Mary's Moving Out":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weqE4qRIKMc

J Church - "You Fucking Trick":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgn8D9G1e3k

J Church - Arbor Vitae LP

Rugger Bugger (1995)

Where to begin with J Church?  I guess I'll start by saying I was never really all that impressed with them way back when.  I had Camels, Spilled Coronas and the Sound of Mariachi Bands and I thought it was OK.  I went to see them play a show at the Pipeline in Newark, NJ and thought they were pretty good.  Over the years I've accumulated about a dozen J Church split 7"s, all bought for the band on the other side of the record.  It's not that I didn't like them, but nothing ever struck me as special and there seemed to be a lot of filler.

Let's not even start on how completely freaking intimidating their discography is.  I don't know if it would ever be possible to track it all down, so I was content just letting them exist in the background.  Then enter my buddy Alan who wanted to learn and play a J Church cover in the pseudo band we mess around with every so often.  He sent me the song "Racked."  Hot damn what a great song and it totally opened my eyes to the possibility that I've been overlooking these guys.

I picked up Arbor Vitae as it's the album with "Racked" on it.  The fact that the vinyl version came out on Rugger Bugger, an all time favorite label, just made it easier to pick up when I was digging around on on Discogs. I can't stress what a great song this is.  Chugging palm mutes in the right places, big catchy chorus and even some harmonics in the very brief guitar solo.  It's just a blast of sugary 1990's pop punk and I love it.  It's the clear highlight on the album, but everything on the record is really strong, especially the A side with "Cigarettes Kill," "Drinking Down" and "Your Shirt" really standing out as killer songs.  

This album is certainly not the sort of thing that would make me try to hunt down the entire J Church catalog.  I know that's a silly idea with my prior experiences with the band, but Arbor Vitae has opened my eyes and I'm certainly up for checking out some more of their albums if anyone out there has recommendations.

J Church - "Racked":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3F_Yj8GaME

J Church - "Drinking Down":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw8zB3WzA5E

J Church - "Cigarettes Kill":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYVi_Yok6O8