Gossip: Music For Men

By: Dennis Cook

Polish your whistle and lil’ silver spoon and get ready to sweat! Gossip has delivered unto us a slab that treats dance music with intelligence and sexy savvy. Like the pioneering work of Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder and Chic, or more recently kindred spirit Hot Chip’s Made In The Dark (JamBase review), Gossip’s fourth album, Music For Men (released in U.S. October 6 on Columbia Records), proves that just because something has a great beat and you can move to it doesn’t mean it has to lack genuine skill or subtle smarts.

In its 1970s heyday, dance music was, at heart, ruminations on connecting (or disconnecting) with others, the intersection of newfound personal freedoms (especially for women and gays) and love’s enduring prod to be enfolded in another. With hip grinding movements, assorted stimulants, and music consciously designed to erode inhibitions, disco was a fertile genre for folks who wanted to explore the post-sixties world but still have a high old time doing so. Like most good ideas, it was perverted and over-commercialized. The so-called dance music of today is largely robot-generated product consciously designed for short-term gains. Not so with Gossip and their Men. From the raw opening crunch of “Dimestore Diamond” all the way through, Music For Men hums with an enthusiastic hunger to engage with their craft, their audience, and more simply, hips and minds everywhere.

Producer Rick Rubin is no fool, and his choice to work with Gossip should be further tip-off that this band is coming into their own. Rubin mostly smoothes out their earlier punk flash, though the chopping, jittery guitars are pure Buzzcocks stuff, especially on “Spare Me From The Mold,” whose general refusal of societal frameworks is actually pretty punk. Rubin has helped them streamline their approach, and more than anything his touch has brought singer Beth Ditto into proper focus, revealing a modern vocalist with the moxie, individuality, and hot shit talent of the classic Motown/Stax/Atlantic Records giants of the ’60s. She’s not what radio is embracing these days; Ditto is worlds away from the American Idol, Beyonce, Mariah, et al. bunch that produces variations on the same sterile end product. Ditto is gutsy and un-careful, a voice totally comfortable pushing mics into the red as she plays with phrasing and delivery in a way that’s right in your lap, all lusty and damaged and terrific. Only Christina Aguilera is in the same league, as far as mainstream ladies go, and Ditto gives Sharon Jones a good run for her money in terms of classic soul feel. If nothing else, Music For Men is a showcase for Ditto, who is undeniably the tattered-yet-strong heart inside Gossip’s sound.

However, her partners in crime, Brace Paine (guitar, bass, keys) and Hannah Billie (drums), whip up a mighty stir for just two people, and with Rubin egging them on, there’s oodles of killer breaks, monster bridges, and loads of wicked hooks. Just about every track has a nifty surprise waiting a couple minutes in, a “throw your hands in the air” stimulant, a cool turn of phrase, or slinky slowdown that moves your body with telekinetic prowess. This is the sort of album that truly will help you dance your way out of your constrictions, and that’s always worth celebrating.

JamBase | Stuffed Into Silver Trousers
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