SKIP CHURCH "Out Of Tune, In Touch With The Devil" LP

At first listen, Skip Church’s debut LP, “Out Of Tune, In Touch With The Devil” is simply a great rock n roll album, living up to the band’s self-proclaimed title of being “America’s #1 Saturday Night Band,” serving up 14 party anthems for the slacker set, riding a fine line as they lay all the way back without ever forgetting to always push forward, and push forward hard. But as you listen closer, you might realize something is off kilter. The chord changes get weird, that guitar leads can sound off-key and other-worldly, and the snotty, snarled lyrics are delivered with a confidence and swagger that seems at odds with the quiet, humble guy you can almost always find standing by himself at the back of the show. But it’s those quiet ones you gotta keep an eye, right? Well that dude is none other than local wunderkind Joe Schorgl, and while you’ve been boozing up, trying to get up the nerve to talk to some dude or dudette that isn’t worth your time, he’s been sizing up the competition, calculating the escape velocity, and plotting his complete and utter take over of the rock n roll universe! In a time when being in one band means you are probably in three, Joe stands just a cut above the rest by not only playing in, but also fronting and writing the songs for two of the very best rock n roll bands in Chicago right now, Skip Church and The Sueves (whose excellent debut LP was released recently on HoZaC records). On top of that, he is also an incredible artist, who seems to be the official illustrator for Chicago’s favorite live venue, The Empty Bottle, and whose work is used for posters, t-shirts, and album covers - including the Today’sHits 7” released on Randy Records - across Chicago. In short, the man is obviously overflowing with creativity – the fact that one band was not a large enough vessel for him to hold all his musical ideas is truly astounding if you think about it. And the creativity of Joe and his band really shows through in this Skip Church record. They have created a record that is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. Indeed, I was at a lost writing this blurb, trying to think of bands that Skip Church sounds like, so I texted Joe and asked him what he thought. He replied “We sound like AC/DC” and five minutes added “…and Donovan.“ And as ridiculous as that might seem, he’s totally right. So if you have been waiting for that band that is a combination of AC/DC, Donovan, and, I dunno, Captain Beefheart, The Reatards, and a dozen other totally incongruent bands that somehow meld into one unique and awesome sonic force, then this record is for you! “Out Of Tune, In Touch With The Devil” is that perfect album that is at once totally familiar, and at the same time totally different from anything you’ve ever heard, and we here at Randy Records couldn’t be happier to be introducing it to the world! We just hope that the world is ready!!! (Randy Records)