Also this issue:

Random House
The Twin Atlas’ curious methods and haphazard road map to rock.
-Brian Howard

The Nut Never Sleeps
-Sam Adams

Melt Banana
-Paul Burress

Alexi Murdoch
-Nicole Pensiero

Tom Tom Club
-A.D. Amorosi

DJ Buck
-Sean O’Neal

Mary Lee's Corvette
-Nicole Pensiero

Yerba Buena
-A.D. Amorosi

July 10-16, 2003

musicpicks

The Gossip

Change is good, in moderation. Case in point: The Gossip. (Or, as they've taken to billing themselves some of the time, Goxxip.) Five of the six tracks on last year's Arkansas Heat EP are the kind of fuzzy, interchangeable punk-blues bursts that cemented the Olympia trio's reputation as a raucous live band while suggesting how singer Beth Ditto got her name. But the 11-minute "(Take Back) The Revolution," whose improvised feedback and sing-along stomp closed the disc, hinted at another adventure The Gossip could choose. Movement (Kill Rock Stars), their second full-length, doesn't go there, but it's a step. "Nite" is a doomy saunter and while "Jasons Basement" showcases Ditto's full-bodied shout; it's closer to Sonic Youth than the blues. A little variety makes reliable rave-ups like "Fire/Sign" all the sweeter; those handclaps could convert a preacher. If there's one thing The Gossip can do, it's move asses. With a July matinee in an un-air-conditioned church basement, they can't fail. Shake it up, baby.

Sun., July 13, 2:30 p.m., $10, with The Locust, Numbers, Kill Me Tomorrow, Les Georges Leningrad and El Guapo, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 800-594-8499.

—M.J. Fine