REVIEWSFor founding members singer-bassist Steve Kilbey and guitarists Peter Koppes and Marty Willson-Piper, along with drummer/producer Tim Powles, the musical big picture can be found in the details.

Best known for the 1980s worldwide hit Under the Milky Way, the Australian band the Church combine the jangling acoustic-electric guitar-pop with the opaque lyrics of frontman Kilbey to create a lush, melancholic music that, if you listen closely, has a silver lining.

Or rather, that's what it sounds like on record. Within the controlled environment of a studio, time can be taken to balance Kilbey's baritone voice against the acoustic guitar playing of Koppes and Willson-Piper, highlighting the musical and lyrical subtleties are the mainstay of The Church's style (and frankly, the only elements that rescue it from mundanity).

Unfortunately, this was not the night for those subtleties to shine through.

What the band may have thought was a casual, unhurried approach to their set came across as studied indifference, setting a disinterested tone that settled on the evening and refused to budge. Minor technical problems and an apparent lack of enthusiasm from the stage only served to dispel any remaining pockets of atmosphere from the gig.

Kilbey's voice, both the music's focal point and its engine, should have been sitting clearly atop the mix, playing off the ethereal rhythms and melodies that emanate from the interaction of the guitars. Yet, while the guitars sounded clear (the playing was, at times, unsure), a muddy sound hampered the vocals, dulling the edge of Kilbey's off-the-wall lyrics and abstruse sense of melody.

In the end, what should have been a subtle and warming experience came across as overcooked-yet-cold.