Something to talk about

A few years ago, I made my way to the late Music Millenium on 23rd Avenue to request a top-notch, locally bred album for a Christmas gift. Without hesitation, the stylishly garbed employee led me to a CD featuring strangely triangular typeface, minimally groomed body hair and the image of two seemingly gender-neutral individuals on the cover. I was in.

The album turned out to be Standing in the Way of Control, the same record that blasted Portland punk trio The Gossip into a blazing international spotlight in 2006. Since the record’s release through Kill Rock Stars, The Gossip has made a name for themselves as one of the most controversial, politically active and resolutely feminist groups around. Matched to the band’s musical exploits is an identity steeped in local and international legend.

A swift chat with some people closest to the Portland trio reveals that bassist/guitarist Bryce Paine has a closet full of vinyl and a strange habit of choosing the smallest spoon to stir his tea with.

Drummer Hannah Blilie is, ostensibly, an incredible sketch artist who refuses to eat horse because she has one tattooed on her body.

And frontwoman Beth Ditto recently purchased a truck, and is known to warn new comrades that hanging around with The Gossip means being able to take a tease or two.

In a recent interview with the Vanguard, Paine helped explain how all these things have come together to make The Gossip one of Portland’s most popular exports.

“We’ve toured hardcore for nine years,” says Paine. “We’ve built quite a cult following due to our constant touring. It’s made us who we were and, yes, I love to tour. We all do.”

Their love of constant performance has allowed fans in nearly every inch of the states and U.K. to stumble across The Gossip’s throwback punk rock and notoriously riotous live performances, sending Standing in the Way of Control to gold record status in the U.K.

The Gossip’s origin, however, is in Searcy, Ark., where Paine and vivacious Ditto grew up. The two moved to Olympia, Wash., in 2000 along with Kathy Mendonca on drums. In 2003, Mendonca was replaced by Blilie, who had already established a name in the industry. The three are a perfect musical match, shaping songs balanced between activist punch, catchy choruses and cult-pleasing quirks.

When not relentlessly spreading their music, The Gossip has developed a habit of being cooped up in the studio. Paine believes that Music for Men, set for release in July 2009, is their best work yet.

“Well, on our new record I was flirting with synthesizers,” he says. “I think they liked me back too! And I played bass and guitar, and that hasn’t happened on previous albums. What prompted that was the fact that we have made three LPs with just a guitar. I thought it was time for change.”

Each of their first three records showed progressively smoothed edges, leading to the mod punk teasers of the upcoming record. Ditto’s openness with her sexuality, weight and political views has earned her a spot as a reigning controversy queen and full-blown sex symbol. Paine claims that their music’s changes in flair or technique are part of an entirely natural evolution outside of the anxiety that can sometimes accompany a band’s follow-up to its hit-maker. 

“We don’t believe in pressure or expectations,” he says. “That totally kills the creative process. So we just make the record we love and hope people enjoy it. I think our new record offers lots of different sounds and styles and what gels it all together is Beth’s vocals.”

That meandering style has allowed for The Gossip to be labeled a part of every impromptu genre under the sun, including queercore, punk blues, garage rock, glam alternative, DIY fem punk and riot dance pop.

However, the band’s profile has become so vast that it can be approached from any number of interesting factoids, such as the revelation that Ditto wrote “Standing in the Way of Control” as a response to the government’s illegalizing of same-sex marriage. Or that the group has toured with everyone from Scissor Sisters to Le Tigre to Cindy Lauper.

Pitchfork archives will tell all about the switch that sparked a thousand uprisings in 2007, when The Gossip signed to Music With a Twist, a subsidiary of Sony Music Label Group.

National profilers mention The Gossip’s tendency to take on as many all-ages shows as possible, and that Ditto’s posing nude on the cover of the U.K. music magazine NME was an epic step forward in our culture’s view of what constitutes a beautiful body.

Their Web site promotes their newly released live record/DVD, Live in Liverpool, and local reports spattering the country share live experiences with Ditto’s remarkably high-energy, quick-witted shows.

All this media buzz is doubtlessly good for the band but the real test for The Gossip will come in July when their next records hits stores and helps write the next chapter for what has already been a wildly multifaceted tale.

Until then, everything is really just gossip.