Beth Ditto is also sexy as hell, deep down sexy, rootsy sexy, swinging, seismic, fiery sexy.  She knows it, her band knows it, and the audience knows it.  Along with everyone else in the room, she thinks she's the absolute hottest thing in town, and the genius of The Gossip is the ability to communicate this confidence, this screw-your-preconceptions-I'm-gorgeous energy.

I don't mean to say that because Beth is, by cover-girl standards, overweight, she somehow would require a great deal of confidence in order to come across as gorgeous.   She is gorgeous.  That's just simple earthy truth.  But a lot of folks in the house, myself included, didn't walk in expecting to see a fat chick on stage.   We're so wired on those same cover-girl standards that we laugh at her a bit at first. 

After the first few seconds of "Swing Low," we're laughing with her.   And eyeing her hungrily.  When she flashes the audience (on request), we cheer and enjoy the view.  And, on her explicit order, we never stop dancing.  Not even while getting water. 

That's the power of the Gossip.  Every one of these fourteen juiced-up jittery blues numbers is about two things: getting you moving and making you fall completely in love with Beth Ditto.  Her low-down Arkansas spitfire vocals are inflated and propelled by the always-almost-out-of-control guitar and drum combo of Nathan Howdeshell and Kathy Mendonca.  It sounds damn, damn good.  No need for bass.   No need for fancy recording techniques, either - as the insert explains, "This record was recorded by paul in kathy's basement (july 2000) with vocals in pauls bathroom."  More telling truths from the liner notes: "if you want more info about the gossip, then write us letters (send mix tapes) to..."  and what could become the band's motto: "NO THANKS TO THE SQUARES THAT DON'T DANCE!  YR BORING..."

To criticize (as some have) that the album is repetitive is to miss the point almost as badly as those who criticized it for lacking a political agenda.  Of course it's repetitive.  And the band would be hard-pressed to maintain its booty-shaking power if they disrupted the record with tempo changes, different time signatures, any of that fancy stuff.  It's really all one big sloppy mess; a discussion of the album song by song would be missing the point.  This is the blues, speeded up and danceable; Chuck Berry would be proud.  Frankly, a Chuck Berry cover would be a wonderful addition to a future Gossip release; here's hoping for "Nadine" or "Thirty Days."  For now, though, whet your whistle with "Jailbreak," the aforementioned "Swing Low," and, well, any other song on this record. 

"I've never danced before, ever, but as soon as the Gossip began, I knew I couldn't stop before they did."  Those were my hastily-scribbled words the night I first saw the Gossip, and they're just as true and immediate every time I listen to this album.  I'd rather be dancing in a recently-smoky club, grinning uncontrollably at the presence of Beth, but in the meantime, the record is about as perfect an aural snapshot of that intoxicating energy as one could ask for.