2

The second album by Retribution Gospel Choir, a band fronted by Low singer and guitarist Alan Sparhawk, begins with whiplash and ends with a sitz bath. Radically different from but also at times foretelling the future of the sound of his main gig, Sparhawk, drummer Eric Pollard, and bassist Steve Garrington unload massive stoner riffs and soaring vocals. Opener “Hide It Away” and power-ballad burner “Electric Guitar” are the two major standouts here, both crackling with an anxious heart, while closer “Bless Us All” is a more mournful blessing than its title implies, imbuing the environment of the album with enough pathos to get even the most cynical among us banging our heads and clicking our lighters.