MOG

“We’re happy to be here. I don’t know…” The Gossip’s Beth Ditto trails off in search of the right words: “I’m feeling it,” she decides, backing up her proclamation with orgasmic huffs before hurtling into “Yr Mangled Heart,” a song Ditto cries—preparing the Liverpool audience for the big voice to come—is for “the faggots, the G-A-Y-S, the D-Y-K-E-S.”

Hardly could anyone have predicted The Gossip—a grimy soul-punk band of misfits started in Searcy, Ark. nine years ago—would find such success in England. And then again, why not? Could that voice—that great big Earth-shaking voice—really have remained restrained to a homegrown underground? Not likely.

While The Gossip have spent the majority of their existence as a feminism-preaching, queer-friendly underground punk band, the trio—who recently released the 13-track recording Live In Liverpool—became hugely popular in the UK following the 2006 full-length release Standing in the Way of Control, named after the hit single Ditto wrote decrying the U.S. government’s decision to deny gay couples the right to marry. The thrusting, crowd-pleasing single took an impressive No. 7 spot on the UK charts and claimed No. 1 on the UK’s indie chart. Never would have called it.

And it's hard to say just why. Maybe it’s the infectious disco-punk guitar riff driving the single (which vaguely recalls the one that made Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out” such a hit). Maybe it’s Ditto’s massive, shattering pipes. Or maybe it’s an English affinity for the unexpected: Who knew an entire nation could fall so hard for a hefty gay gal from the South? Then again, they did give us the British blues.

Whatever the case, The Gossip deserve the limelight. I suppose I should be surprised it took this long, surprised they didn’t receive their dues from their homeland, but, rather, from across the pond, surprised to see Ditto treated like such a twinkling queen (posing nude on the cover of NME, authoring her own advice column for The Guardian, etc.). But I’m not, really. Ditto’s stupefying voice, which could hearken the spirits from heaven if need be, were bound for praise eventually—a soul like hers’ can’t be ignored.

Prior to their overseas success, The Gossip were regarded as little more than another K Records/Kill Rock Stars weirdo band banging around Olympia, Wash. Ditto’s straight-from-the-pulpit cries and sweaty, jaw dropping live performances prompted much word-of-mouth, building for The Gossip a solid following, but one that rarely, if ever, peaked above ground. And while the musicianship is undeniably strong, The Gossip’s brand of gritty blues-punk—which has more recently morphed into something more aptly called disco-punk—isn’t particularly original. It’s Ditto’s larger-than-life presence that is. It’s Ditto the Brits (and myself) so adore.

“I can’t believe you knew the words to that song—so weird,” Ditto gasps after closing “Coals to Diamonds” then, not wanting to offend the crowd, quickly adds: “But amazing.”

Live In Liverpool captures The Gossip in a strange and unexpected place: Performing in front of thousands of screaming British fans, most of whom one would imagine at a Lily Allen concert, not a steamy, preachy Gossip set. Still, while perhaps a bit dazed by their success, The Gossip seem to be having loads of fun as they power through 13 grinding songs, including unexpected—yea, that word again—renditions of Wham!’s “Careless Whisper” and Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody?” The record documents an exhilarating time for The Gossip—but, to really feel the light, you gotta’ catch 'em live.

Posted on 04/18/2008