Alan
Sparhawk's main project, the Duluth slowcore trio Low, has cranked up the
volume and feedback so much over its last couple of albums that Sparhawk's
raucous side projects Black Eyed Snakes and Retribution Gospel Choir aren't as
much of a surprise as they once were. Looking back, they now seem like ways for
Sparhawk to experiment with new sounds before committing himself to adding them
into the Low recipe. But there's still lots of ground to explore with
RGC—he's able to go even further out into louder, harder-rocking
territory, and he sounds as comfortable there as he ever did in Low's quiet,
still spaces.
Originally
a duo project with Sun Kil Moon's Mark Kozelek, RGC is now a Sparhawk-fronted
trio also featuring Low bassist Matt Livingston, though Kozelek is still
involved as producer. (It's his record label, too.) Two songs here first
appeared on Low's Drums And Guns, and the changes are instructive: "Breaker"
morphs from an organ-and-handclap-driven drone to one built around a thrashing
guitar riff, with the urgency kicked up a notch. Better? Not exactly, but it's
like watching two great actors interpret the same role in different
ways—they're both right, and perfect for their context.