At the tail end of last summer indie record label and promoter Popfrenzy toured a bunch of overseas acts and got them all together for a boat trip round Sydney Harbour.

One of those acts was The Gossip, a band i’d never heard of at the time. So when it was their turn to play, i remember i was still sitting out on the deck of the boat, chatting with friends watching the sun go down. But i couldn’t ignore the almighty wailing going on indoors, so headed inside for a look.

I made my way to the front, to discover a guitar and drum combo fronted by a large woman with a huge powerful voice. For a no frills punk band, they had a surprising groove, but the standout was definitely frontwoman Beth Ditto, with a raw soul diva’s voice. I was well impressed.

The Gossip have inspired some of the so-hot-right-now remixers to rejig their tunes for the dancefloor. Here’s some samples from various mp3 blogs:

• Standing in the Way of Control (Soulwax remix)
• Standing in the Way of Control (Original mix)
• Listen Up! (MSTRKRFT remix)
• Listen Up! (A Touch of Class remix)