Retribution Gosbel Choir - Cargo – 15/03/10

Tonight was a big one, Cargo tucked away in the heart of London’s ‘trendiest’ area of Shoreditch has had some great gigs over the last few years and this was no exception.

First up are ‘These Monsters,’ one of the many exciting bands coming from Leeds at the moment, their debut album ‘Call Me Dragon’ is bringing heavy rock back from wherever it went. The four piece ripped up the stage with a sound so loud you start to think that ear plugs could really be a good purchase. Slick guitar lines complimented by subtle synth work and a good bit of saxophone, they are steadily gaining themselves a decent reputation and with tonights ear achingly live performance it’s only onwards and upwards from here.

RGC aren’t exactly the new kids on the block with 2/3rd’s of them being from cult heroes Low but the fact that they play in both bands is pretty much where the similarities end. Their second album recently out via Sub Pop is a brutally vast and loud record, far from the minimalistic drone of Low, by the time they entered the stage Cargo was crammed full of music lovers watching in awe as the three piece battled it out with pounding drums, vast electric blues style guitar and heavy bass lines.

The crowd seemed split between die hard fans and people who were just curious to see what these guys were up to, new songs such as ‘Workin’ Hard’ and ‘Poor Man’s Daughter’ evoked a great crowd response and also got people properly singing along to the catchy choruses but it was the amazing drum work combined the aggressive guitar work of, bringing the rock songs out into a new and much more epic light.
RGC are the sort of band that are holding the torch for the avid ‘rock’ fan but as yet they still don’t know about what an amazing hidden gem these guys really are, their performance tonight showcased a live sound that would be equally at home at much bigger venues in the capital.

Words : Gordon Reid

Retribution Gosbel Choir – 2 (Sub Pop)

Despite the album artwork looking remarkably like David Gray’s ‘Life In Slow Motion’ do not be fooled, this is no mere bland slice of chart friendly acoustic pop the likes of which skinheads and grannies come together in harmony to sing along in melodramatic drivel. (unfortunately I know this from experience having seen one of his shows) in fact the amusingly named ‘2’ couldn’t be further from mundane, this is an album as loud and vast as the icy mountains in the image may suggest.

RGC are a rock band for the 21st century, their dirty, eclectic mix of songs have had me enthralled since the first listen, it’s been a while since a rock album has done anything other than leaving me a little dead inside so it’s great to hear such a fantastic array of straight out garage rock songs that go beyond the usual realms of the genre. The drumming plays a large part in why RGC have such a large sound with Eric Pollard’s pounding drums eeping out of every corner none more so than in the climatic finale to the five minute ‘Poor Man's Daughter’ finishing with a ripping guitar solo over the top of mental drumming.

Featuring Steve Garrington on bass and Alan Sparhawk singing and playing guitar, better known as two members from cult favourites ‘Low’ you almost get the feeling that RGC are letting the guys release this inner rock passion that they just can’t achieve in Low and being a huge fan of Low I was a little weary at first as I didn’t want this to become just another disaster side project as many of our heroes seem to have fallen ill of in the past but thankfully I can say that both bands are
completely different, RGC couldn’t be more apart from the minimalisms of Low with noise filling every second of this album, each song crackles and hisses from the seemingly garage style recordings, songs such as ‘Your Bird’ and the more upbeat ‘Workin' Hard’ really play a part in showing you what this band are all about, blues

style riffs, big drums and almost country tinged vocals.
Retribution Gosbel Choir have excelled themselves with this album and has proved that after so many failed attempts by lesser artists, it is still possible to create a ‘rock’ album without sounding tired or processed.