***THE GOSPEL TRUTH's third record and second full length takes ideas & sounds cleverly sketched out on 2013’s A Lonely Man Does Foolish Things and opens ‘em up wide screen to the point where the quartet’s range is running neck-and-neck with their imagination. Expertly recorded by IAN RUNDELL (Spray Paint, Empty Markets, Xetas), Jealous Fires is a brooding, kinetic masterpiece, one that makes a very strong case for vocalist/multi-instrumentalist MARK TONUCCI's unique take on the human condition. There’s vague echoes of some exceptional moments in rock history (Suicide, the Bad Seeds, Transformer) but there’s no contemporaries with The Gospel Truth’s ability to fuse such unvarnished explorations of mind, soul & spirit to a musical accompaniment nearly as explosive. In bassist DAVID PETRO and drummer BRANDON CROWE, Tonucci’s got one of underground rock’s more inventive rhythm sections; in guitarist PATRICK TRAVIS, a player whose flair and stylistic range makes a mockery of, well, anyone who’d settle for calling this band post-punk. All four of these guys have logged considerable time in other Austin bands you most likely know and love ; Mark in the improv jazz quartet ART ACEVEDO and as the frequent saxophone fixture in troubadour John Wesley Coleman’s live band, David on guitar/vocals for 12XU labelmates XETAS and bass for Art Acevedo, Brandon’s past tenure in WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH and recent work alongside Quin Galavis in FALSE IDOL, or Patrick’s drumming for THE GOLDEN BOYS… but suffice to say, The Gospel Truth SOUND ZILCH LIKE...
LP $15.50
09/23/2016
***Austin's THE GOSPEL TRUTH have been knocking around since 2007, but it's only been in the past two years that vocalist/saxophonist/keyboard player MARK TONUCCI’s quartet have really caught fire. All-malicious-intent in a way that runs contrary to this city’s party vibe, they've emerged as one of the town’s top live bands in the process. Not only is it hard to come up with a regional precedent for The Gospel Truth, it’s almost as tough to ID an album as out of time as A Lonely Man Does Foolish Things. The Flesh Eaters’ A Minute To Pray, A Second To Die, the Toiling Midgets’ Sea Of Unrest or maybe The Black Snakes' Crawl come to mind, but that trio stuck out like sore cocks in their respective eras, too. In this case, you've got a purposeful, unusually deft ensemble fronted by a singer who comes out of his shell in the best possible way when you put a microphone in his hands. Featuring an all-star squad of Austin rockers (PATRICK TRAVIS of THE GOLDEN BOYS and SSSERPENTSSS, JEREMY STEEN of THE FLESH LIGHTS and NAZI GOLD, ex-WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH drummer BRANDON BENNETT CROWE), The Gospel Truth are on tour shortly after this album's June release.
LP $14.75
06/11/2013