[image-4]Published May 22, 2008.
Retribution Gospel Choir
Retribution Gospel Choir
(Caldo Verde)
The Retribution Gospel Choir is what you might expect from Alan Sparhawk’s side-project—it sounds like Low, except the songs are cranked out, draped in Les Paul-loving distortion. It’s like the last half of “When I Go Deaf” from Low’s The Great Destroyer, when guitar feedback obliterates the song’s gentle acoustic framework. Of 10 tracks, eight are new Sparhawk compositions and two (“Take Your Time” and “Breaker”) are reworked from Drums and Guns. Considering the RGC began around four years ago, when Low was starting to change its sound, Sparhawk may be done with slow burn and quiet intensity for good.
Dave Hayden
This article appears in May 22-28, 2008.