Retribution Gospel Choir

by K. Ross HoffmanRetribution Gospel Choir debuted in 2005 as primarily a live enterprise spearheaded by two seminal masters of spare, quiet indie rock, Low's Alan Sparhawk and Mark Kozelek of the Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon. A series of enthusiastically received tours found the two guitarists reveling in the opportunity to rock out far more than they ever did their main bands, unleashing sludgy, classic rock-infused riffage and squalling simultaneous solos, and covering of the likes of Neil Young and the Rolling Stones. By the time the group got around to releasing their self-titled debut in March of 2008, following and reprising material from a pair of looser, jammier tour EPs, they'd shrunk from a quartet to a trio, including two out of three members of Low (Sparhawk and bassist Matt Livingston) along with drummer Eric Pollard of Duluth band No Wait Wait. Kozelek, though no longer a member of the group, served as producer for the album and released on his own Caldo Verde imprint.