Pitchfork

Gospel Gossip's debut, 2007's Sing into My Mouth, was one erratic album-- not without its charms, but certainly flawed enough to obscure the band's potential. Sometimes their gothic dream-pop sounded seductively ominous; at other times, it seemed sickeningly precious. It was the kind of tonally inconsistent record you might expect from a young band either too unsure or too afraid to commit. No such hang-ups on "Nashville", a searing new single that finds the Northfield, Minn., band firmly in command. The feedback is denser, angrier, but it's the drumming-- a blunt weapon as opposed to mere ballast-- that really makes the difference. Whether the band can sustain this vigorous tunefulness over the course of an album, or even the forthcoming Dreamland EP, remains to be seen, but if progress is measured in increments, "Nashville" is one giant step forward.

MP3:> Gospel Gossip: "Nashville"
[from the "Nashville" single; out now]