No Certainty Attached: Steve Kilbey and The Church

(Paperback)

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Description

The first biography of a much-admired Australian rock band, The Church, and their enigmatic frontman, Steve Kilbey. Writing with the full involvement of Kilbey and other members of the group, Lurie covers the band from their formation in the early 1980s through their years of chart success to their current role as oddball elder statesmen of the rock scene. Robert Lurie makes good use of the access he was given to deliver a compelling, warts-and-all portrait of a rock band.

Reviews

Publishers Weekly, July 2009
Although a self-professed die-hard fan, Lurie remains stridently impartial in this skillfully balanced assessment of his musical idol, Steve Kilbey, the esoterically minded front man for the Australian rock band the Church. Into his noisy myriad of interviews with Kilbey and his circle, Lurie mixes his own personal journey as a fan, musician and first-time author, offering something to both Church devotees and the uninitiated. The result is a quietly and thoughtfully structured narrative that entertains as well as informs. Lurie provides sound musical analysis of the Church's touchstone albums as well as key Kilbey solo projects. Yet Lurie can also be too much the music critic, as his musical observations occasionally drag the narrative into pedantry. Rather than focusing exclusively on those elements of the biography that are fantastic or controversial, Lurie's interviews capture quite a bit of Kilbey's daily life, past and present, and in so doing, open doors to readers who might otherwise not have an interest in a musician with whose music they may only feign familiarity. The nice assemblage of personal photographs printed throughout the text adds an authenticity and completeness to the book.

Author Bio

Robert Dean Lurie is a writer and musician. He received a Master of fine arts degree in creative writing from the University of North Carolina and currently lives in Phoenix. No Certainty Attached is his first book.