PRAISEWORTHY: CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA

Ok, let’s get one thing out there right at the beginning: Woodlands-based Church of Philadelphia sings Gospel. Not gospel the Kirk Frankliny musical genre, where everyone gets a matching shiny graduation gown and stands on risers swaying in synch. No. Rather, Gospel in the literal sense of the praise of Christ and the glory of redemption through Him. Unlike a a Sufjan Stevens song, for example, where spiritual references are in the form of his walk in the Kingdom of Earth interwoven with the intersects of his Walk; or in Bono lyric, where God more often than not is a punching bag/complaint department – these are songs of genuine praise and worship.

If that turns you off, that’s too bad, ‘cause they have a lot of good songs, especially on those where they kick-up the pace a bit and pour on the instruments. While we feel we must tread as lightly as possible on the works of worship of other artists, most praise music we’ve encountered hasn’t done much for us. So, it’s exceptional that the joyful noise unto The Lord that is their self-titled EP hasn’t just found its way onto our iPod, but is in heavy rotation in such dreadfully secular settings as the office, the commute and the room we do the dishes in.

With pianos, folk guitars, and the occasional organ, they sometimes catchily, sometimes almost drearily, offer it up on high with some pretty aces hooks and a bright nod to what is coming from them next. Witness their Witness tonight at Notsuoh with locals Listen! Listen! and touring kids Comrade.