The Daily Spin II

The Church | Starfish

Welcome back to the Daily Spin. For the uninitiated, this is the series in which I review an album every day of 2025.

As was the case two years ago, my favorite song from each album can be found at the playlist linked here.

Album: Starfish (1988)

Artist: The Church

Link:

One of those one-hit albums that fell into the cracks a bit under the deluge of other similar post-punk sounds coming out of the music industry in the 80s, Starfish first caught my eye through ‘Under the Milky Way’ - which promised a slightly softer sound, reminiscent of the Cure or the Smiths. It was tantalizing, really.

Pleasantly, the album delivers on this promise for the most part. Though the album definitely stretches a little long, and it’s undeniably clear that the best few tracks are head-and-shoulders above most of their counterparts. Still - as far as jangle pop goes, this is really nice to listen to - never really oppressive on the ears, just solid enough to get by. You can absolutely see how The Church made a full career of this, honestly, because this is a timeless sort of sound that, despite being dated, never really feels wildly out of touch.

Rating: 8/10

Best Tracks: Blood Money, Under the Milky Way

Worst Tracks: Spark