The turn-of-the-century / 1999 thing snuck up on most of us faster than we expected. Seems like last week we were digesting the debut of Prince's track by the same name, and yesterday we were being blasted by the scalding cauldron of bands armed with songs that emulated the late "Big K's" songwriting formula that targeted quiet, surreal verses and catchy choruses that sounded like a cannonball feels.
     As you know, 99.9 percent of those bands have gone the way of the do-do bird (can we say Gruntruck, boys and girls?). Whether these guys/gals have gone back to their telemarketing gigs or ended up in an sweet office doing A&R for Big Money Inc., Gavin Rossdale and his cohorts in Bush are still making music with their dignity intact.
     As evidenced by the response to their third set of new songs, The Science Of Things, their popularity hasn't quivered even a hair, a feat for our generation with the mosquito-like attention span.
     During a recent prodding session, Rossdale explained, "I think by now that we have cemented our place somewhat. There is nowhere specific to say where we fit. Actually, the only thing that I worry about is getting better; everything else is really up to other people, and I cannot monitor their actions. I cannot dictate (whether or not) we are still referred to as some sort of overnight, fly-by-night presence."
     His casual and calm demeanor betrays the general attitude expected from someone who has had every fabric of his existence picked apart.
    At first considered by many to be an English brunette pinup doll with a knack for writing the songs that make the little American girls scream, Rossdale has had to prove his merit on a scale that likely would break most.
     "It finally hit me that none of this was personal. This happens to everybody (that does what I do). I am not special at all, and once that got through to me, things didn't seem to bother me as much. Everyone feels like they are misunderstood or whatever. It comes with the territory, and I've adopted some ways to keep a lot of it from filtering down to me.
     "First, I don't read any of our press at all. The other guys will try to snatch up everything that they can on us, but I don't pay any attention to it at all. It's such a mindf*** also, because I suppose it all revolves around someone's opinion, right? So if that's the (case), imagine how confusing it is to read one review that lifts you up higher than a god and then the next which says you are complete s***. I don't need that, so I may check out the pictures, but I really don't read it, and that helps to keep me from having a chance to react to what may be out there."
     When pushed a bit further on the stimuli that may have pushed him to the extreme, he replied, "There was nothing specific. I just want to live my life, and it is very possible to be as normal as possible if you want to be. Sitting around reading all of your press certainly isn't the way to be normal."
     As we rap, he's on the other end of the line shopping for a new Macintosh computer: a sign that there's truth to the above, as it is not unfathomable to imagine someone in his position sending an assistant to fetch the item of choice.
     Artistically speaking, he rejects the notion that as his songs continue to flex tripper beats, more intensity and less gloss, his outfit will join the ranks of those who have issued the almighty double-CD concept album.
     "Oh no, I don't think that will ever happen. I personally don't think that it's fair to ask your fans to give you that much time out of their day. I mean, I love the new Nine Inch Nails record. I think it's brilliant, but I can only listen to one side of it at a time. I think doing a rock opera is very self-indulgent and, quite frankly, that's just not for us. Plus, if you really pay attention to the new album, all of the songs seem to work together because this is the first record where we had the title of the album before we had the songs. So I think that there is a common thread to them in that respect. But no, I can't say that you will ever see us doing something that grand."
     As a songwriter, Gavin's tunes have grown into something that demands attention. Some of them are quite ugly in that respect. For example, "Jesus Online," their second single, is a brutish tune with no qualms about showing off both its beauty and its warts. It's a fact not lost on its author.
     "That's a very cool observation, he says. „I agree that we have never made music that was meant for backgrounds. I think that we do demand a certain amount of attention from our listeners. I don't see finding a lick of satisfaction in writing songs that are so passive-sounding. Do you know what I mean?"
     I do, and I agree that while not critics darlings, Bush have both creatively and commercially surpassed the shelf life that was predicted for them back in the day when "Glycerin" was burning up the charts. Stay tuned . . .