The Gossip
Undead in NYC (Dim Mak)
By Jim Keller
Published: November 16th, 2003 | 2:24pm
By now you are probably familiar with the Gossip's high-energy blues/gospel/punk explosion, but although the Arkansas trio has transplanted itself to Olympia, Washington's hotbed of punk/riot grrl/queercore, Undead in NYC proves that the band's music hasn't changed and the only way to get the full scope is to see it live.
In a little under half an hour, the Gossip pushes, pulls, and drags the audience through slice after delicious slice of southern-fried hospitality. Listening to this disc enables you to almost smell the sweat of the audience as it gasps for air while taking in Nathan Howdeshell's raucous blues guitar, Kathy Mendonca's minimalist garage drums, and perhaps the most stifling of all, Beth Ditto's bantering interaction and in-your-face gospel howls. On "Don't (Make Waves)" Ditto screams, "Aww yeah don't make waves in the water," transporting you to a hot and muggy juke joint where the beer runs thick and the music even thicker. Other notable tracks include "Arkansas Heat," where you can almost hear the feet of the audience tapping along on the Knitting Factory's wood floor, and "Gone Tomorrow," which is as bluesy as it can get.
Of course no Gossip performance is complete without Ditto's bratty, sassy, rude, and funny interjections between songs. (See "Non, Non, Non," where she proclaims, "For the record, Gossip are not garage-rock, we are punk.") Ditto is a preacher of the blues and her audience is all too eager to file in the church doors, placing itself row by row to get filled with "the spirit" -- and what a spirit it is as the band teams up with the Chromatics, ending its set with the Stooges' classic "I Wanna Be Your Dog."
Issue #27
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