- Label
- Columbia
- Release date
- 22nd June 2009
- Genre
- Rock
- Buy this album
- Order CD
Beth & Co prove there’s life beyond the Skins soundtrack.
Being a one-trick pony is an accusation that’s haunted many an artist. For The Gossip Standing In The Way Of Control casts a long, long shadow and the main purpose of this album - their fourth, but major label debut – is to demonstrate that there's more to them than 2006's gay rights dancefloor filler (despite the lead track, Heavy Cross, sounding exactly like their most famous song) and more members in the band than Ms Ditto (drummer Hannah Billie graces the cover).
Music For Men mixes soul, disco and funk to great effect with the band’s riot grrl punk influences drifting further into the background. Thanks to legendary producer Rick Rubin it sounds great, stripped down and whip tight. The undoubted star though is Beth Ditto, her voice packs the kind of wallop that hasn't been heard since Janis Joplin was alive but the better tracks here - Dimestore Diamond, Long Live Distance, For Keeps – demonstrate a more restrained side to prove there’s more than the holler.
The problem though is that although it’s good pop fun, it falls down lyrically (the best moments are lines ripped from other songs – “I heard it through the bassline”) and lacks the killer thrust that will make them more than just a sideshow. As with Rubin’s biggest success story, Johnny Cash, one suspects the answer is an album of well chosen covers.
More to try:
New Young Pony Club: Fantastic Playroom
David Bowie: Young Americans
Gang of Four: Entertainment!
Noisettes: Wild Young Hearts
