I need not give much of an introduction to this Olympia-based rock band… after all, almost every damn underground (& partially even overground) mag has at least mentioned their potential. The Gossip are hard to ignore right now; there are so many kids who have already gotten their hands dirty in all the excitement this band has been arousing in the dancing feet of rebel boys and girls all over the States (and they haven’t even been around that long either). This ol’-fashioned rock N roll outfit made their first release with K Records last summer (2000) and haven’t been very quiet since. A four-song and seven-minute piece of sassy and simplistic blues-tinged wonderfulness, their K release could be easily mistaken for a long-forgotten garage-recorded set of early rock songs, made by a few rock-crazed teens who lived, breathed, shat, and slept for the addictive taste of rock N roll music. But it wasn’t dug up from some box of well-hidden Elvis seven inches and naughty paperbacks with bouffant ladies in slips gracing their covers that sat in some granny’s attic for 50 years. It was spawned from the same scene that brought us the best in complicated in punk rock, messy dischordances, all somehow strung together in a confusing chaotic matter. If not messy, it was all the more math-y, chock full of all the same complications, if not more. The Gossip is a bit more straight forward, a bit more traditional, and most certainly not at all like the rest. Their sound is saturated with just the right amount of loudness to be punk, but is very much so under control, regardless of the crazy riffs Nathan churns out like a madman. It’s the most fun shit out there right now: it makes you wanna dance, it makes you wanna shout! Forget the emo tragedies we’ve been spoon fed for so long! The Gossip is teaching us to have fun again, and you gotta love ‘em for that. Their second release, That’s Not What I Heard, is an even more energetic homage to Southern-fried early rock, but with a crisper and cleaner sound while still maintaining the same gritty rawness of their first release. Beth’s sultry soulful voice is even bigger and more earth shaking than before. The steady and suave beats, provided by Kathi, who could easily be the girl who sat quietly next to you in your English class, sets the kind of pace for the back-alley strut of the saucy greasers and red-mouthed stylers of any badass block on the bubblegum smackin’ snarl of the oldies rock circuit. And, to top it all off, Nathan somehow manages to hold together these thrillingly technical guitar riffs, yanking and yowling like an insane fever, all the while keeping it tight. They are darlin’, daring, witty, charming… what are you waiting for?! Grab a cherry cola and don’t be a stranger. Let us only hope the good time fun the Gossip is providing us with now is only the beginning. -to the interview