Standing in the Way of Control

Every Gossip record is a party — a boozy, sloppy, sexy party littered with broken bottles and sweaty dalliances. The Olympia,Washington-by-way-of-Arkansas trio, led by lung-busting blooze-punk princess Beth Ditto, go clean (maybe too clean) on Standing in the Way of Control‘s production; somebody has nearly DustBustered the ”garage” right out of their gorgeously messy garage-rock sound. What remains is a bare-bones backbeat, a few menacing guitar riffs, and Ditto’s cracked, crackling dynamism. With a little more behind her, the Gossip just might hit an A.