Fuck. It’s hard to know what to say about the death of someone that’s been such an influence in my life and musical tastes over the years. Lance Hahn, singer/guitarist for J Church and Cringer, passed away after slipping into a coma after he collapsed during a dialysis treatment.
I first discovered J Church, like I did with so much of the music I loved as a teenager, through a cheap compilation. It was Honest Don’s Greatest Shits, which had the song “Undisputed King of Nothing” on it. I don’t remember anything else on that comp, but I still love “Undisputed King of Nothing” and purchased several J Church albums based on the strength of that song alone. I would reconnect with Lance’s music a few years later through another comp, Lookout’s reissue of their late 80’s classic “The Thing That Ate Floyd,” which featured Cringer’s excellent rendition of “Cottleston Pie.”
I really regret the fact that I never got to see J Church live. The closest I got was when they played in Columbia during a rare tour in 2003. I really wanted to go, but classes started the next day, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to drag my ass out of bed after driving two hours and getting home at 3 a.m. or later.
The first J Church album I bought was a used copy of the singles compilation Meaty, Beaty, Shitty Sounding, which sounded anything but shitty. I can sing the words to most every song on it (even the ELO covers that start things off) and I still go through phases where I’ll drag out my J Church CDs and bask in their greatness. The greatest strength of Lance’s songwriting to me has always been that while you know the guy’s extremely knowledgeable, and his record collection would slay your own, he retains a level of pop accessibility and mastery, and isn’t afraid to let influences through that the “cool kids” would probably shit on. Lance always seemed to me like the kind of guy that’s smarter than you, who possesses the rare gift of being able to capably express feelings and ideas, but who would never rub his intelligence in your face, possessing a subtlety that’s all-too-rare in the music world.
There’s so much more I’d like to say, but I feel like I’m rambling already. I could elaborate on how almost any J Church song makes me feel, but it will only make it seem like goodbye, and with a catalogue as wide and emotionally significant as Lance Hahn left behind, the music will always be there.
The lights are going down,
It’s late at night in an early town,
Save yourself, don’t hang around,
Put your dreams in lost and found,
I know that you’ll want to stay,
I know that you’ll run away,
Your eyes are on the ground,
It’s closing time in an early town
