Ever get to see the Gossip back in the day?
I remember, some time after Movement was released and well before Standing in the Way of Control, I walked a 2+ mile distance to a place called the Hard to Find Showspace out in Goleta, California to see them. And the venue wasn’t named that to be funny. In fact, it was a basement in a church out in the middle of nowhere that some DIY kids rented out when they could book shows for the local proto-hipsters (you know, the co-op kids who at any given moment may or may not have had better taste in music than you, or at they very least more of an underground sensibility than you). The room had one bookcase over-flowing with toys and stuffed animals and was lit by a few strings of flashing multi-colored Christmas lights, and on occasion a makeshift stage. And despite feeling out of place among the who’s who of the indier-than-thou crowd that it drew, it was an awesome place to catch performances by bands like the Gossip.
The performance that night was definitely memorable as the group transformed a quiet room of inert arm-crossers into a full-fledged dance party with its sassy brand of soul-meets-punk-meets-disco with no more than a drum set, a guitar (sometimes a bass, sometimes not) and the bombastic caterwauling of Beth Ditto.
Fast-forward to 2009…The group is still a trio, is still making us dance like no one is looking, and Beth Ditto is still awesome. Only difference is they’ve traded playing church basements for venues like Terminal 5, and are now on a major label roster which seems fitting and well-deserved for the little Kill Rock Stars band that could having formed 10 years ago. Thankfully, their musical formula hasn’t changed too much in that time, although past and recent-ish collaborations with the likes of Peaches and Simian Mobile Disco clearly left an impression on the Gossip’s sense of musical style and the need for a more tautly produced piece of sonic couture that sounds good enough to wear. And Music for Men is just that and doesn’t let up once you start it. “8th Wonder” is classic Gossip with its spastic punk-rock guitar riffs and fierce chorus hooks. “Love Long Distance” is a piano-based almost-ballad with a killer dance floor twist that may just get stuck in your head for days (not that I minded). And the X-Ray Spex-reminiscent, angular album closer “Spare Me from the World” is complete with saxophone flourishes.
The point is the Gossip will make you dance or die trying.
- By Jory Dominguez
Price: $18.99
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