The first thing that hits you from Swiss outfit The Churchhill Garden's "Always There" are the reverb(y) guitars. Before too long, though, you find yourself entranced by the saccharine sweetness of American lead singer Krissy Vanderwoude's vocals, which bring to mind Velocity Girl's Sarah Shannon. As Vanderwoude sings about "kindness, patience and grace," it's marvelous to get a little twee go along with the richness of her honeyed tone.
I liked last year's single, "Grounded" by the band, but there's nothing of the bite from that song here. I could easily imagine "Always There" as a feature track on a 1992 episode of 120 Minutes and Churchhill Garden perhaps opening for peak-of-their-powers era Lush. Now, they just have to put out a full-length!
As a bonus, here is The Churchhill Garden's cover of The Cure track "Halo," from the b-side of the "Friday I'm In Love" single, where they riff on "Pictures Of You" at the end. The collected b-sides from the Wish album is one of my favorite groups of songs, so this is such a treat.
