aaamusic | On 14, May 2012

After having gotten rid of a “The”, of the energy characterising Standing in the Way of Control and the catchy rage of Music for Men, Gossip release A Joyful Noise, the fifth album by Beth Ditto & Co.
Well, let’s be frank from the beginning. Never an album title has been so ridiculously wrong. There is nothing joyful about AJN, only a failed attempt to reach the mainstream audience and the charts.
After the opening Melody Emergence and its weak riffs here comes Perfect World, the first single from the lot, with its predictable refrains, and the repetitive Get A Job. After that, it’s a never-ending disappointment. Apart from Casualties of War, where Beth plays on a gentle Fleetwood-ian background in definitely the best song of the album, the over-13 listener struggles to finish the album.
The worst sin committed here by the Washington State band consists in not having found a way to emphasize Beth’s voice, which is the real added value of the band. The first victim having to pay for retaliation is the audience, forced to listen to a lame Blondie’s cover band instead of the splendid fury that distinguished Gossip first works.

★★★★★

Lorenzo Coretti