One of the few albums I can bear listening to right now is Music for Men by the band Gossip. According to Wikipedia, the band is a three-piece American indie rock band that started out in 1999. Aside from indie rock, their music can also be placed in the post-punk, garage rock, and dance-punk sub genres.
The lead vocalist, Beth Ditto’s voice is pitchy and high, which for me works just well to balance the hard-pounding drum beats and strong guitar plucks. Hence the “gospel voice with a funky punk tune”
I’ve actually discovered the band just last year when I saw their video for Love Long Distance on the now defunct MTV Philippines.
Since then, I made a mental note in my mind to try their other songs too, so I got a copy of Music for Men. I love the whole album because no song really wears me out, but the ones that stood out aside from Love Long Distance is Heavy Cross, where her gospel-like voice is best distinguished but vanishes in the chorus part where she screams her lines. The drum and guitar parts in this song are what I love the most because they bring so much emotion, at least for me. Aside from Heavy Cross, I love 2012 because of its upbeat, danceable, head-banging tune.
Other places I’ve encountered Gossip’s music:
Radio 1’s Live Lounge Volume 2 – Standing in the Way of Control
Radio 1’s Live Lounge Volume 4 – Heavy Cross
Skins – Standing in the Way of Control
The Vampire Diaries – Heavy Cross
You can buy their album Music For Men here
