Posted on: December 21, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Tempe, AZ band, Gospel Claws have recorded a cover of one of their favorite tunes from Pulp’s This Is Hardcore.

The buzz around their new record C-L-A-W-S has yet to stop building. In a recent interview with Paste Magazine, frontman Joel Marquard says of them being featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered…

“I was pretty freaked out. That was insane because I listen to that podcast—I download it to my iPod and listen to it quite regularly. I’m a huge NPR fan—all of us are, actually. I texted everyone and was like, ‘We are fucking on All Songs Considered.’ Yeah, it was pretty awesome.”

Gospel Claws formed in late fall of 2007 when Marquard decided to team up with long time friend Sloan Walters. Marquard stepped away from his founding role in Dear and the Headlights in the fall of that year and tapped into the enormous catalog of songs that he had amassed outside of the band. John Mulhern was a long time friend of both Sloan and Joel, who was listening in on a practice one day when Sloan had the idea to put a bass on him and teach him how to play it. Mulhern had never played anything besides the radio (as they say), but picked up the bass guitar duties quickly enough.

Wesley Hilsabeck joined on guitar in late 2007 thanks to Marquard’s propensity for stalking. Marquard, who was a DHL driver at the time, made a delivery of cookies to Hilsabeck’s house and recognized the name on the box. The two had met years back and had some mutual acquaintances, so Marquard left a note with the cookies, “Kind of a will you join my band: YES, NO, or MAYBE kind of thing.” Hilsabeck called Marquard that night and the two made an instant musical connection. With the group complete, they began playing shows in the downtown Phoenix art scene.

In October 2008, Marquard’s ex-bandmate and Dear and the Headlights member, Chuckie Duff, offered to finance and release an EP on his Common Wall Media label. The band began recording at Flying Blanket with Duff and engineer Marcus Howard. The studio sessions resulted in a self-titled EP as well as a 7″ split with fellow Arizona boys, What Laura Says. The EP was well received by critics and hailed for its soulful retro-revivalist vibe.

Artist – Gospel Claws
Album – C-L-A-W-S
US Release Date – October 26, 2010
Label – Common Wall Media/Modern Art Records

Tracklist:

01. Walk Me Down
02. Summer Nights Lakeside
03. Bridge To Nowhere
04. Stars In My Heart
05. Avenues
06. Somebody Stole My Money
07. Need For Speed
08. Householder
09. La Pequena
10. Greeley Estates
11. Whispers & Talking

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