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January 20, 2006
MS Daily Picks - Am I denigrating this by evoking Lady Rapture?
The Gossip: "Standing in the Way of Control"
As soon I as first heard this song, I thought, "Where is the female equivalent of the Rapture? No, Le Tigre does not count as they preceded the Rapture. Not Pretty Girls Make Graves; that's incredibly too tenuous.
I'm talking about some girls in Seattle or NYC or SF or Portland hearing "Out of the Races" EP and saying, "How much would skinny boys adulate us if we emulated this sound and added some strained female voice to it?"
I'm sure someone more scened-up than I has about six bands on that tip on the burgeoning cusp, so I won't be so disingenuous to claim that my non-knowledge of such an entity renders it gospel truth.
While the Gossip is not Lady Rapture, "Standing in the Way of Control" is its entry into the nascent category. The Gossip, known for minimistical songs over before they begin, seems as if the entire garage whiskey band shtick was a way to conserve energy for this gem.
Sounding like a sped-up, more visceral, cigarette-toking Dolly Parton, Beth Ditto rides the base two-step and post-punk-ish guitar loop into the the horizon, voice oscillating between warble and some straight-up Tina Turner power. The song keeps threatening to launch into a "Take Me Out" refrain, drumline showing signs of petering into a new direction, but holds its shape, returning to loops. That, my friend, is when the DJs need to oblige with a volume boost.
You will be underwhelmed on the first listen; you will be hooked by the third. This song feels like it's on a tight-rope; a sonic quiche. Any false step would have destroyed it.
Posted by Keith O'Brien at January 20, 2006 01:25 PM
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Comments
I'm getting a heavy 80's vibe from this. Has a she-mullet been spotted?
Posted by: Merry Swankster at January 25, 2006 04:19 PM
