Review: Gospel Gossip - Dreamland
*MP3: Gospel Gossip - “Pre-Med (Just In Case)”
*MP3: Gospel Gossip - “Nashville”
Gospel Gossip
Dreamland (Guilt Ridden Pop, 2009)
Grade: A-
For a group so young, Gospel Gossip immediately showed immense promise on their 2007 debut Sing Into My Mouth, as their pop-minded variation on shoegazer demonstrated a startlingly strong grasp of melody and songcraft on songs like “Shadows are Bent” and “Revolutions in Physics.” Dreamland, their follow-up EP, isn’t so much an evolution of that sound—jangly, echo-laden guitar work with just the right amount of fuzz, breathy vocals, and a propulsive rhythm section—so much as it is a refinement of it.
Gone are the sonic digressions into riot-grrl, as are the keyboards which lent texture on many of the songs on Mouth. Mostly, Dreamland focuses, and delivers, on the rock side of Gospel Gossip’s sound. The majority of Dreamland emphasis verse-chorus-verse structure, and nowhere is that more apparent—or successful—than on Dreamland’s first single and opening track. “Nashville,” which takes a sing-songy melody, doubled on guitar and vocal, and drowns it in a mid-tempo wash of distortion.
The song is first of many Dreamland highlights, including both “Big Steer” and “Pre-Med,” which effortlessly and energetically chronicle the frustrations of listless youth without succumbing to joyless navelgazing. Most hyped bands eventually crash. But, if Dreamland, both the EP as a whole and the long-form title track (which shows the band continuing exploring more open-ended and, well, dreamier songwriting territory), is any indication, Gospel Gossip’s star is truly ascendent.
(Jon Graef)
Posted 8 months ago