The Church

When the Church formed in Australia in 1980, its ringing, soaring post-punk should've made it as big as, say, Echo & the Bunnymen. Of course, the Church did reach that level of success in its home country on the back of early hits like "The Unguarded Moment," which also happens to be one of the great lost classics of '80s new wave. But it was with the release of the group's 1988 swirling, sumptuous Starfish that America perked up its ears (including the producers of Miami Vice, who featured the album's lead single, "Under the Milky Way," in the show). Since then, the Church has maintained a steady output of darkly psychedelic full-lengths, including the imminent Untitled #23 as well as the recent soundtrack to fantasy author Jeff VanderMeer's novel Shriek: An Afterword — a book as lush and steeped in atmosphere as the Church's oeuvre itself. (Be sure to visit blogs.westword.com/backbeat for full Q&As with the Church's Marty Wilson-Piper and Adam Franklin, who shares the bill on this Denver date.)