Hot Gossip - You Look Faster When You Are Young Review

Just to clear it up first: this particular Hot Gossip is not related to the British dance troupe of the same name responsible for the 1978 hit ‘I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper’. Oddly enough, this is something of a disappointment: while the latter is a somewhat guilty yet enjoyable slice of pop pleasure, the former is another forgettable piece of derivative schmindie nonsense.

There’s something a little bit inscrutable about You Look Faster When You Are Young. It almost seems as if the band have, for some reason, looked at the half-hearted excuse for guitar music this country is guilty of producing and decided it is something to be emulated. When Italy has such a rich musical tradition - indeed one of the best records of the year has come from there in the shape of Zu’s Carboniferous - deciding to sound like The Rakes seems like an even more baffling choice. You’ll have heard the same sort of thing from every band who’s shamelessly plundered the original new wave/post-punk bands of late: lazy disco beats; uninspired 'jerky', trebly guitar; vaguely dub basslines – it’s all here....full text HOT Gossip is an Italian band comprised of Giulio, Sergio and Giacomo and with the release of their sophomore effort You Look Faster When You Are Young they return in defiantly brash fashion.

The trio started out life in the back streets of Milan, and when they met, they quickly realised they had a collective aim of playing blistering rock n roll. Their music is described as “not quite indie rock, not quite post-punk or nu rave, and not quite anything else that might fall under the alternative catch-all”.

Rather, it’s deemed unapologetic pop and upbeat rock melded seamlessly together to create songs that are catchier and more polished than anything they’ve ever done before. That final point is up for debate, however....full text Sounding like 'a little bit of this, a little bit of that, Hot Gossip return with the difficult second album. And it could have gone a lot worse. At times there's some bare-faced Clash referencing, and a wholly British sound - a factor that is confounded by their Italian passports. Opener 'Everybody Else' fits precisely into this description, with plenty of simple, catchy guitar-work and send and return vocals.

'Call The Rangers' is all boozy Cockney (or should that be Milanese) wide boy verses and heavy riff choruses interweaved with ironic Disney-innocent whistling. A similarly playful ethic can be heard in 'You Better Know'. However heartfelt the lyrics are, it's impossible not to grin when you hear the chorus break out into its Brit-pop indie rhythm with the defining line "I really need a hug" starting each repetitive bar.

Their heaviest moment is unquestionably 'What We Are', a serious piece of rhythmic, weighty rock 'n' roll. After a couple of minutes of beatless guitar and quick fire verse the whole thing explodes. Guitars, keys and cymbals all collide to make a powerful sound that pre-dates any of the increasingly angry younger-family-member genres of today, yet it manages to sound fresh and danceable....full text