A tale of rock-and-roll survival
For almost thirty years, Australian band the Church have crafted music that blends a rich variety of styles—pop, psychedelic, progressive, and straight-ahead rock—yet always remains distinctive, thanks to the inimitable vocals and lyrics of front man Steve Kilbey.
Based on extensive interviews and featuring 71 photographs, No Certainty Attached is the first biography of Kilbey and his band. It charts their personal and musical ups and downs: the commercial heights of “The Unguarded Moment” and “Under the Milky Way,” the creative breakthroughs of the Priest=Aura album and Kilbey’s solo work, followed by the Church’s struggle to survive in the wake of bad business decisions and Kilbey’s drug indulgences, and their reemergence as an underground band with a worldwide cult following.
Author Robert Dean Lurie was given unprecedented access to Kilbey, so in one sense No Certainty Attached is an authorized biography—but it’s definitely a warts-and-all portrait. It pulls no punches, for example about its subject’s years of drug addiction. At the outset, Kilbey told the author: “Lurie, it’s your book. Write whatever the fuck you want about drugs. You have my blessing.”
Lurie also interviewed Kilbey’s family, present and former bandmates, friends and foes, and what emerges is the compelling story of an artist and a band clinging steadfastly to their muse in the face of external and internal difficulties—and the transformative power of the music they’ve created.
Advance praise
“All one could ask for in a biography —an engaging and intricate subject, thoroughly researched; a panoply of riveting interviews; and, best of all, the author’s own passion for lyrics, music, and life.”
—Philip Furia, author of The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: A History of America’s Great Lyricists
“Robert Lurie has written the definitive account of the Church and the life of its main protagonist, the ever creative and artistically complex Steve Kilbey. This is more than just a band biography; it’s also the personal journey of one Church fanatic, a journey to which we can all relate.”
—Ian McFarlane, author of The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop
NO CERTAINTY ATTACHED
Steve Kilbey and The Church:
by Robert Dean Lurie
Paperback, 320 pages, 71 photos
$19.95 postpaid (USA/Canada)
$29.95 postpaid (overseas)
In stock now!.
Australian mailorder customers, please order from here - it'll be cheaper and quicker.
from Steve Kilbey's blog
robert dean lurie has done a lovely job
hurrah
and great relief
i read it all in one go yesterday
it was like a novel i couldnt put down
then this
then that
. . .
of course i dont actually get royalties for it myself
so this is a free advertisement
its been a long time coming down the line
and im very happy with it
. . .
theres loadsa pics you probably never seen before
rob has understood the biography thing well
and hes done a pretty good job
you can imagine how i'd be railing against it if it was a stinker
he even gives me the last word
. . .
maybe the church'll be selling it on church murch
go on
buy it
read it
imagine you had led that life
oh god what a story
a ha ha ha