Gossip
Gossip is an American indie rock trio from Portland, OR, originally formed … Read Full Bio ↴Gossip is an American indie rock trio from Portland, OR, originally formed in Arkansas and formerly known as The Gossip. The genre-bending DIY post-punk rock trio bring a new level of lyrical power and musical sophistication to their ever-evolving, always-electrifying sound and sensibility on Music For Men, the indie group's first major label studio album.
According to Gossip guitarist and music creator Brace Paine, the idea of calling the band's new album Music For Men comes straight from Beth Ditto, the Gossip's iconoclastic lead singer and charismatic front-person. "It's like a feminist joke," Brace offers by way of wry explanation.
And while the Gossip incorporate a deft sense of cultural irony into Music For Men, there's nothing confusing about the post-punk trio's musical approach: direct and visceral, pulsing with a raw and unapologetic animal energy, drummer Hannah Blilie's propulsive rhythms interlocking with Brace's heart-pounding riffs and Beth's aggressive and cathartic vocals.
One of the year's most highly-anticipated event releases, Music For Men, the Gossip's new musical manifesto, marks the group's first full-length studio collection since their signature anthem-of-empowerment, "Standing In The Way of Control," broke-out big in 2006. Music For Men is the first new music from the group since the release of its major label debut, Live In Liverpool.
On-board to make sure the Gossip got the studio sound they were looking for was producer Rick Rubin, who the helped the band find its own distinct groove in every track. "He is a true mystic," Brace observes "All we talked about was John Cage. He's only cares about music, speakers and sound systems. He's really amazing to work with. I'd say 'make the bass sound like PiL' and he'd know what I was talking about, he got all the references. He would let me do whatever I wanted to do. Such awesome energy."
Brace admits that the band's experience cutting Music For Men at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu marked "the first time we ever had access to a studio like that. I can see if you let a musician loose in this big studio to just ride all this stuff, I can see why somebody would just come up with this huge thing. Having restraint was so important. I hate the over-production sound."
"We wrote a lot of this album in the studio," Brace continues, again referring to Shangri-La. "The Band built it in 1976 and Bob Dylan's old tour bus was in the back. It was empty so I turned it into my own little studio with my computer with GarageBand and my guitars and stuff. I loaded up all my gear into Bob Dylan's 70s tour bus and that's where I wrote. Beth would come in and I would play her demos. All the vocal lines are hers, the lyrics are hers. I do the sounds and she sings over it. She'd come in the Bob Dylan bus and we did a lot of demoing on our own during the day because it was more comfortable. She'd come in and sing into GarageBand. I'd write some things to her vocals. 'Dimestore Diamond' was actually her humming the song and I started playing bass to it."
While "Dimestore Diamond" lays the escapades of a punk-rock Second Hand Rose across a deep funk bassline and crackling rhythmic static, "Men In Love" fires up the ultimate dance-floor groove, as sweaty as it is transcendent. "Heavy Cross," the album's first single, finds Beth first cooing, then belting a confrontational challenge to the status quo of a cruel world.
Other new songs on Gossip's "Music For Men" include "8th Wonder," "Love Long Distance," "Pop Goes The World," "Vertical Rhythm," "For Keeps," "2012," "Love and Let Love," "Four Letter Word," and "Spare Me From The Mold."
"She's got a serious set of lungs. She's a great singer. I'm always blown away by what she does," say Brace admiringly of his bandmate. "Everything she did was on the first or second take."
When it came to the overall sound and vibe of Music For Men, "We kept it really simple. There's usually not more than two things going on at once on the record. It just started out with bass lines and then I'd put a guitar over it or synth. I thought a lot about how it's gonna sound live. We're a live band so much. We have a fourth member, a bassist, on-stage. I play keyboards at the same time as guitar."
The journey from "Standing in the Way of Control" to Music For Men has been a wild ride for the Gossip. “We have been out on the road a lot,” says Hannah. “The shows are great, every tour gets bigger, and the shows are more and more fun. We're really good friends and we’re having a great time.”
Brace and Beth have been friends since Brace was 15 and each of them was formulating a cosmopolitan world-view encompassing far more than their lives in small farming towns on the outskirts of Searcy, Arkansas. A punk mixtape made its way from Brace to Beth (via a mutual friend, Kathy Mendonca, who'd later become the first drummer for the Gossip) and the seeds of a long-standing friendship and musical union were planted.
"I ended up hanging out with her quite a lot," Brace, a budding local indie music entrepreneur. "I put out a tape of her band Little Miss Muffet." It wasn't long before Beth, Brace and Kathy moved to Olympia, Washington where "We lived in a punk house together and started the band in the basement."
Right from the beginning, the Gossip felt they were on to something special. "Beth was doing this bluesy thing," Brace remembers. "It was more lo-fi. We never did sound checks. Everything was super-loud and distorted. I didn't know how to play my guitar at all. Then we got this new drummer...."
Once drummer Hannah Blilie came on-board, the Gossip line-up was in-place, ready to shake some action and kick down some walls. The young indie trio broke-through with 2006's Standing In The Way Of Control, which reached #1 on the UK indie chart and #22 on the UK album chart while the title track became widely associated with the popular UK teen drama, "Skins."
The success of “Standing In The Way Of Control” and the Gossip’s incandescent performances rapidly established newcomer Beth Ditto as a cultural icon in the UK -- she was named the NME's Coolest Person In Rock (in one of her four cover appearances), took home the Glamour Awards' 2008 International Artist Of The Year, appeared on the cover of the premiere issue of Love magazine, and is a much-sought-after guest on UK television. Beth and the Gossip’s music were becoming recognized in the UK and Europe as a major force.
In a surreal world where he's talked to Karl Lagerfeld about the Velvet Underground during French Fashion Week, Brace claims that "Our lives have -- hilariously -- not changed at all really. We live in the same town. "
And though the daily lives of the band's members remain unaffected by the Gossip's growing notoriety, the heat of their music and the adrenaline-rush of their live shows are an ongoing source of excitement.
Since the group's formation, the Gossip has opened for and/or toured with a wide variety of musicians including Le Tigre, Chromatics, Tracy and the Plastics, Sonic Youth, Pre, YYY, Sleetmute Nightmute, Glass Candy, the White Stripes, CSS, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Erase Errata, Stereo Total, and the Kills among others.
The summer of 2007 found the Gossip on-board the True Colors Tour -- as part of an eclectic bill including Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry, Erasure, Rufus Wainwright, the Dresden Dolls, the MisShapes, the Cliks and host Margaret Cho -- for a series of concerts benefitting the Human Rights Campaign.
That summer found the Gossip closing the Glastonbury Festival, with Beth Ditto paying homage to the late John Peel, the massively influential British DJ/journalist/television presenter, during the group's set exclaiming "JOHN PEEL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE UNDERGROUND!!!" The Gossip was invited back to Glastonbury the following year.
2008 saw the release of Gossip - Live In Liverpool, a deluxe live CD/DVD documenting the group's incendiary show from July 9, 2007, focusing on the deep raw power, energy and intensity of the Gossip's live performances. In April 2008, in support of their live release, Gossip set off on a mini-tour of select US venues which included SRO shows in New York and a career-defining performance on the "Late Show with David Letterman."
"We are always on tour," says the band. As popular on the festival circuit as they are in the world's post-punk clublands, Gossip is lined up to play Radio 1's Big Weekend in May 2009 as well as a series of UK summer festivals including Latitude, Leeds, and Reading.
When the band's off the road, Beth, Brace and Hannah get together to practice at least twice a week. There's a club in Portland called Dunes, where Brace sets up shows and DJs "a lot." The group plays host to local post-punk parties and including a mythic underground soiree (now in hiatus) called "Suicide Club" where Brace whispers, "we would play post-punk records and show Joy Division videos on the wall. Maybe 30 kids would come. It was a great club. There was no sign because it was illegal."
With "Music For Men," the Gossip bring together the vital elements of danger, thrills and passion to their sound and vision, partying like it's 2012!!!
On January 22, 2010, it was announced that Gossip will be performing at Lilith Fair 2010, which is back by popular demand. ABC is the official sponsor of this year's Lilith Fair. For more information on the tour schedule and artists visit the Lilith Fair official website.
Sites: gossipYouth.com
According to Gossip guitarist and music creator Brace Paine, the idea of calling the band's new album Music For Men comes straight from Beth Ditto, the Gossip's iconoclastic lead singer and charismatic front-person. "It's like a feminist joke," Brace offers by way of wry explanation.
And while the Gossip incorporate a deft sense of cultural irony into Music For Men, there's nothing confusing about the post-punk trio's musical approach: direct and visceral, pulsing with a raw and unapologetic animal energy, drummer Hannah Blilie's propulsive rhythms interlocking with Brace's heart-pounding riffs and Beth's aggressive and cathartic vocals.
One of the year's most highly-anticipated event releases, Music For Men, the Gossip's new musical manifesto, marks the group's first full-length studio collection since their signature anthem-of-empowerment, "Standing In The Way of Control," broke-out big in 2006. Music For Men is the first new music from the group since the release of its major label debut, Live In Liverpool.
On-board to make sure the Gossip got the studio sound they were looking for was producer Rick Rubin, who the helped the band find its own distinct groove in every track. "He is a true mystic," Brace observes "All we talked about was John Cage. He's only cares about music, speakers and sound systems. He's really amazing to work with. I'd say 'make the bass sound like PiL' and he'd know what I was talking about, he got all the references. He would let me do whatever I wanted to do. Such awesome energy."
Brace admits that the band's experience cutting Music For Men at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu marked "the first time we ever had access to a studio like that. I can see if you let a musician loose in this big studio to just ride all this stuff, I can see why somebody would just come up with this huge thing. Having restraint was so important. I hate the over-production sound."
"We wrote a lot of this album in the studio," Brace continues, again referring to Shangri-La. "The Band built it in 1976 and Bob Dylan's old tour bus was in the back. It was empty so I turned it into my own little studio with my computer with GarageBand and my guitars and stuff. I loaded up all my gear into Bob Dylan's 70s tour bus and that's where I wrote. Beth would come in and I would play her demos. All the vocal lines are hers, the lyrics are hers. I do the sounds and she sings over it. She'd come in the Bob Dylan bus and we did a lot of demoing on our own during the day because it was more comfortable. She'd come in and sing into GarageBand. I'd write some things to her vocals. 'Dimestore Diamond' was actually her humming the song and I started playing bass to it."
While "Dimestore Diamond" lays the escapades of a punk-rock Second Hand Rose across a deep funk bassline and crackling rhythmic static, "Men In Love" fires up the ultimate dance-floor groove, as sweaty as it is transcendent. "Heavy Cross," the album's first single, finds Beth first cooing, then belting a confrontational challenge to the status quo of a cruel world.
Other new songs on Gossip's "Music For Men" include "8th Wonder," "Love Long Distance," "Pop Goes The World," "Vertical Rhythm," "For Keeps," "2012," "Love and Let Love," "Four Letter Word," and "Spare Me From The Mold."
"She's got a serious set of lungs. She's a great singer. I'm always blown away by what she does," say Brace admiringly of his bandmate. "Everything she did was on the first or second take."
When it came to the overall sound and vibe of Music For Men, "We kept it really simple. There's usually not more than two things going on at once on the record. It just started out with bass lines and then I'd put a guitar over it or synth. I thought a lot about how it's gonna sound live. We're a live band so much. We have a fourth member, a bassist, on-stage. I play keyboards at the same time as guitar."
The journey from "Standing in the Way of Control" to Music For Men has been a wild ride for the Gossip. “We have been out on the road a lot,” says Hannah. “The shows are great, every tour gets bigger, and the shows are more and more fun. We're really good friends and we’re having a great time.”
Brace and Beth have been friends since Brace was 15 and each of them was formulating a cosmopolitan world-view encompassing far more than their lives in small farming towns on the outskirts of Searcy, Arkansas. A punk mixtape made its way from Brace to Beth (via a mutual friend, Kathy Mendonca, who'd later become the first drummer for the Gossip) and the seeds of a long-standing friendship and musical union were planted.
"I ended up hanging out with her quite a lot," Brace, a budding local indie music entrepreneur. "I put out a tape of her band Little Miss Muffet." It wasn't long before Beth, Brace and Kathy moved to Olympia, Washington where "We lived in a punk house together and started the band in the basement."
Right from the beginning, the Gossip felt they were on to something special. "Beth was doing this bluesy thing," Brace remembers. "It was more lo-fi. We never did sound checks. Everything was super-loud and distorted. I didn't know how to play my guitar at all. Then we got this new drummer...."
Once drummer Hannah Blilie came on-board, the Gossip line-up was in-place, ready to shake some action and kick down some walls. The young indie trio broke-through with 2006's Standing In The Way Of Control, which reached #1 on the UK indie chart and #22 on the UK album chart while the title track became widely associated with the popular UK teen drama, "Skins."
The success of “Standing In The Way Of Control” and the Gossip’s incandescent performances rapidly established newcomer Beth Ditto as a cultural icon in the UK -- she was named the NME's Coolest Person In Rock (in one of her four cover appearances), took home the Glamour Awards' 2008 International Artist Of The Year, appeared on the cover of the premiere issue of Love magazine, and is a much-sought-after guest on UK television. Beth and the Gossip’s music were becoming recognized in the UK and Europe as a major force.
In a surreal world where he's talked to Karl Lagerfeld about the Velvet Underground during French Fashion Week, Brace claims that "Our lives have -- hilariously -- not changed at all really. We live in the same town. "
And though the daily lives of the band's members remain unaffected by the Gossip's growing notoriety, the heat of their music and the adrenaline-rush of their live shows are an ongoing source of excitement.
Since the group's formation, the Gossip has opened for and/or toured with a wide variety of musicians including Le Tigre, Chromatics, Tracy and the Plastics, Sonic Youth, Pre, YYY, Sleetmute Nightmute, Glass Candy, the White Stripes, CSS, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Erase Errata, Stereo Total, and the Kills among others.
The summer of 2007 found the Gossip on-board the True Colors Tour -- as part of an eclectic bill including Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry, Erasure, Rufus Wainwright, the Dresden Dolls, the MisShapes, the Cliks and host Margaret Cho -- for a series of concerts benefitting the Human Rights Campaign.
That summer found the Gossip closing the Glastonbury Festival, with Beth Ditto paying homage to the late John Peel, the massively influential British DJ/journalist/television presenter, during the group's set exclaiming "JOHN PEEL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE UNDERGROUND!!!" The Gossip was invited back to Glastonbury the following year.
2008 saw the release of Gossip - Live In Liverpool, a deluxe live CD/DVD documenting the group's incendiary show from July 9, 2007, focusing on the deep raw power, energy and intensity of the Gossip's live performances. In April 2008, in support of their live release, Gossip set off on a mini-tour of select US venues which included SRO shows in New York and a career-defining performance on the "Late Show with David Letterman."
"We are always on tour," says the band. As popular on the festival circuit as they are in the world's post-punk clublands, Gossip is lined up to play Radio 1's Big Weekend in May 2009 as well as a series of UK summer festivals including Latitude, Leeds, and Reading.
When the band's off the road, Beth, Brace and Hannah get together to practice at least twice a week. There's a club in Portland called Dunes, where Brace sets up shows and DJs "a lot." The group plays host to local post-punk parties and including a mythic underground soiree (now in hiatus) called "Suicide Club" where Brace whispers, "we would play post-punk records and show Joy Division videos on the wall. Maybe 30 kids would come. It was a great club. There was no sign because it was illegal."
With "Music For Men," the Gossip bring together the vital elements of danger, thrills and passion to their sound and vision, partying like it's 2012!!!
On January 22, 2010, it was announced that Gossip will be performing at Lilith Fair 2010, which is back by popular demand. ABC is the official sponsor of this year's Lilith Fair. For more information on the tour schedule and artists visit the Lilith Fair official website.
Sites: gossipYouth.com
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Gossip Lyrics
02 Standing In The Way Of Control Your back's against the wall There's no-one home to call Y…
02. Heavy Cross It's a cruel, cruel world to face on your own A…
02. Standing In The Way Of Control Your back's against the wall There's no-one home to call Y…
06.your mangled heart If everything you do has got a hold on me Then…
1 You get the wrong idea from someone else How you live…
18. Standing In The Way Of Control-G Your back's against the wall There's no-one home to call Y…
2012 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh You think…
6.yr mangled heart If everything you do has got a hold on me Then…
8th Wonder There's an equation You plus me equals dead To the science A…
>Heavy Cross It's a cruel, cruel world to face on your own A…
Act of God Every beat of my heart Is a merciful act of God No…
Ain't It The Truth Ain′t it the truth, now, baby Ain't it the truth, now What′d…
All My Days All through the days come back to me All through the…
And You Know... And you know, you know it's gonna feel good And you…
Are U That Somebody [Verse 1] Boy, I been watchin' you like a hawk in…
Are You That Somebody? [Verse 1] Boy, I been watchin' you like a hawk in…
Bones I knew this woman named Francy She was a two-timing son…
Bring It On Oh it ain't easy, no it ain't easy Just one time…
Careless Whisper Time can never mend the careless whispers of a good…
Casualties of War When I opened my eyes I didn't see Falling from the…
Cat Fight I beg your pardon Were you talking to me? How many more…
Coal To Diamonds I think I feel a little hurt My fists are turning…
Confess In the evening, in the evening Things are changing, they'll…
Crazy Again Situations occur when romance is a blur, it happens all…
Dangerrr Baby, baby, baby, baby I could be so good to you,…
Dark Lines Heavy makeup doesn't cover up the many sleepless nights I ca…
Dimestone Diamond Everybody knows the things she does to please Low cut sweate…
Dimestore Diamond Everybody knows The thing she does to please Low cut sweater…
DON It's like I got a hole in my pocket Tryin' to…
Don''t Make Waves It's like I got a hole in my pocket Tryin' to…
Don't It's like I got a hole in my pocket Tryin' to…
Don't Be Afraid Lately I've been alone on my own And thinking Where times go…
don't make waves It's like I got a hole in my pocket Tryin' to…
Don't Make Waves /Live It's like I got a hole in my pocket Tryin' to…
dressed in black I know I hurt her I know I need her Oh mama Mama…
Edge of the Sun Lot of love, it's gonna be a wild one Nothin' in…
Eyes Open Well I keep my eyes open I worry for nothing Not a…
Fire / Sign What do I gotta do to make it work out Do…
Fire With Fire It ain't the end of the world girl You'll find your…
Fire/Sign What do I gotta do to make it work out Do…
For Keeps Its just emotion I've never had Emotion Is makin' me sad Emo…
Four Letter Word Oooh Oooh, oooh, ooh, ooh, oooh Put my best foot forward T…
Get a Job I'd love to stay and party but I gotta go…
Get Lost It was a show stopping moment The minute that you caught…
Give It Up for Love Loneliness is such a curse I'm sure that you and I…
Got All This Waiting got a ways to go Its a cryin shame: Got all this…
Got Body If You Want It Hunny...I wanna hear my name Hunny...wont you say my name? H…
Heartbeats When you love me, my heart just stops I got good…
Heavy Cross It's a cruel, cruel world to face on your own A…
Heavy Cross (Fred Falke remix) Oooh oooh ooh hooo Oooh oooh ooh oooh Oooh oooh ooh hooo Hoo…
Heavy Cross Album Version It's a cruel, cruel world to face on your own A…
Heavy Cross. It's a cruel, cruel world to face on your own A…
Holy Water Holy water Smoke & mirrors Boiling water You'll disapp…
Horns I heard it from a little bird Who gave me…
Hott Date Looking for some action, baby Won't you give it to me? I…
I Won't Play You get the wrong idea from someone else How you live…
In The Way of Control Your back's against the wall There's no-one home to call Y…
Into The Wild You want me to be honest Tell you all the…
Involved I'm beginning to wonder what you look like As days go…
Jailbreak I went to her cryin', "Oh what a pity", she…
Jason's Basement Well I Get By With The People I Know Get…
Jealous Girl You said your peace It's killing me I can't believe It's …
Jealous Girls You said your peace It's killing me I can't believe It's ove…
keeping god alive Oh, oh Fear is a curse The terror of twilight The fear of…
Lesson Learned I don't ever wanne be that girl The saddest thing in…
Light It Up Ooh, satellite burning down into flames And do it all over…
Light Light Sleep I've got trouble Down deep I've got trouble Down deep …
Lily White Hands Hey girl, i said yes ma′am You never trust a man…
Listen Up I warned you, you didn't believe me I warned you, you…
Listen Up (Punks Jump Up remix) Ooh oh ooh oh I warned you, you didn't believe me I…
Listen Up! I warned you, you didn't believe me I warned you, you…
Listen Up! (2007 Version) Ooh oh ooh oh I warned you, you didn't believe me I…
Listen Up! (A Touch Of Class R I warned you, you didn't believe me I warned you, you…
Listen Up! (MSTRKRFT Mix) Ooh oh ooh oh I warned you, you didn't believe me I…
Listen Up! (Tronik Youth Remix) I warned you, you didn't believe me I warned you, you…
Long Distance Love Call yourself a romantic Let me explain Been across the whol…
Love and Let Love There are pictures of me Around your room You come on strong…
Love in a Foreign Place I put my make up on and Head for the other…
Love Long Distance Call yourself a romantic Let me explain Been across the whol…
Mangled Heart If everything you do has got a hold on me Then…
Melody Emergency You got a head on your shoulders You get a bone…
Men in Love Shame, shame, shame Ooooh I, I, I, I, shame, shame, shame I…
Move in the Right Direction One step closer and feeling fine Getting better one day at…
Night Your back's against the wall There's no-one home to call Y…
Nite Last night Last night You came to my house around three or…
On the Prowl I'm a firecracker on the 4th of July I'll make your…
Peace and Quiet I don't mind a lie If you tell me honestly You could…
Perfect World Oh oh and I I put a wish in Made it my…
Pop Goes The World Find yourself in a situation Can't talk your way out of Stim…
Real Power Give me real power Give me real Give me real power Give me…
rules for luv Give me a girl on a morning in Spring, When the…
Southern Comfort Honey, ain't no woman like a Southern girl Does anybody wan…
Spare Me From The Mold Hut, hut, hut, hut Hut, hut, hut, hut Hut, hut, hut, hut …
Standing In The Way Your back's against the wall There's no-one home to call You…
Standing in the Way (Tronik Youth mix) Your back's against the wall There's no one home to call You…
Standing In The Way of Contol Your back's against the wall There's no-one home to call Y…
Standing In The Way Of Control Your back's against the wall There's no-one home to call You…
Standing In the Way of Control (Album Version) Your back's against the wall There's no one home to call You…
Standing... Your back's against the wall There's no-one home to call Y…
Sweet Baby just a sweet sweet baby just a sweet sweet baby just a…
Swing Low Better make it good Better make it now Well, baby we'll shak…
Tell Me Something Is it not everything that you wanted to be? Is it…
Tough You need a change, so make a change You'll figure out…
Tuff Luv People wishin', dream in It's gonna happen, deam on Tuff l…
Turn the Card Slowly Assuming that I act like I don't care I'm nothing if…
Vertical Rhythm I got the beat I got the beat You know I do Set…
Waves It's like I got a hole in my pocket Tryin' to…
Where The Girls Are That's where I'll be Where the girls are That's where I'll…
Yesterday's News Well I guess todays's the day It's been a year ago…
Your Mangled Heart If everything you do has got a hold on me Then…
Yr Mangled Heart If everything you do has got a hold on me Then…