Retribution Gospel Choir

There's a concept of "retribution" that appears in early Mormon teachings: the idea that certain crimes such as murder are so heinous that they're resolvable only via blood atonement. Did this doctrine inform the Retribution Gospel Choir, a band which counts practicing Mormons among its ranks? Not according to guitarist/vocalist Alan Sparhawk, who told a journalist that he meant it in a more benign sense: "giving back for what you've taken, rather than payback." This isn't to say that the Duluth, Minnesota, band is necessarily gentle — indeed, on its two albums, plenty of songs start out calm and gradually climax in apocalyptic torrent. RGC apparently raised the roof at its Firebird appearance earlier this year; here's a second chance to see them.