Music for Men

Gossip makes a real leap forward

Despite that this year the trio Gossip is releasing its fourth album already the band can hardly be called too successful, especially in the commercial sense. In fact this band headed by quite an interesting personality, pianist and vocalist Beth Ditto got famous due to only one single Standing In The Way Of Control. This song was written as a respond to the amendment offered by G.W. Bush’s administration that threatened to outlaw the one-sex marriages all over the territory of the USA which caused a strong public reaction. As one of the brightest sexual minority representatives Ditto could not leave unnoticed such an interfering in the civil rights and caused her peers to unite the efforts. On the whole the absolute majority of the songs she writes have something to do with various hardships in love and Gossip’s new creation Music For Men is not an exception in this respect. Musically the album proves to be a real leap forward: produced by the talented Rick Rubin it amazes with the power of punk, vivid hooks and arrangements underlining perfectly Beth Ditto’s splendid, often thundering vocals. No doubt the record is going to occupy a worthy place in the band’s discography and it is very probable that from now on the name of Gossip is going to be associated with the new hits, too.

The vocals play one of the leading roles on Music For Men

No doubt, the vocals play one of the leading roles on Music For Men but one should by no means underestimate the other instruments. The album with a splendid composition Dimestore Diamond with the most contagious rhythm you probably have ever heard and no less memorable tune, while Heavy Cross gets close to a danceable melody with Beth’s amazing singing on chorus adding significantly to it. Guitars’ cracking on 8th Wonder lays wonderfully on the penetrating vocals and lyrically this is one of the most topical tracks on the album. The song about two lovers’ hard destiny Love Long Distance is one of the record’s highlights: Beth’s trademark piano, her soulful singing and a catchy pop-melody along with an unsophisticated text make the composition a true hit. One should also note an unusual song Vertical Rhythm refined with some marvelous jazz elements, an utterly unimaginable bass line and a faultless guitar. The song Men In Love tells of one-sex men’s love pleasing therefore with a slight disco flavor whereas For Keeps is sure to become one of the best examples of female vocals you are about to hear this year. An altruistic mid-tempo composition Love And Let Love conquers with hand clapping that sounds very appropriate here and a contagious melody while a high quality number Four Letter Word displays that Beth’s vocals can combine greatly both with live instruments and electronic processing. The album closes with the least soft track of all, Spare Me From The World, reminding us that the trio Gossip is not to be considered as a girls band for it sounds far from vulnerable or innocent here.

Contagious, soulful, vivid and original songs

In 2004 the founding drummer Kathy Mendonca left the band to devote more time to her family and she was later replaced by Hannah Blilie known for her work with several punk bands. This year Gossip celebrates exactly ten years since its formation in Olympia, Washington, and by this time it is quite clear how well these musicians know each other. Their playing is as matched as possible and all three of them together sometimes sound like a whole orchestra. This talent solution has reached its apogee on the fourth album Music For Men. The only thing we could critic Beth Ditto for would be connected with her songwriting skills: the choice of words is not always fine but it is fully compensated with the soulfulness of her performance. Besides she uses a lot of quotes from a great number of well-known songs performed by a vast variety of artists, from Aretha Franklin to Justin Timberlake. Mostly these are trite metaphors, proverbs and wise expressions which refine the lyrics of all the tracks on Music For Men. Thus if you are fond of contagious, soulful, vivid and original songs, 12 new tracks from Gossip are made especially for you.