- Melody Emergency
- Perfect World
- Get A Job
- Move In The Right Direction
- Casualties Of War
- Into The Wild
- Get Lost
- Involved
- Horns
- I Won't Play
- Love In A Foreign Place
If there is a more irritating trope in music than rock bands claiming to "love pop," it probably involves squeezing a whoopie cushion in time to Black Lace's "Gang Bang." Yet, despite watching many others trip up on this one, somewhere, somehow, after another long drunken dinner with Rick Rubin, Beth Ditto decided she was a pop band. And to prove it, she would make the next Gossip record with one of the noughties' top pop-pickers, Brian Higgins of Xenomania.
This is not the first time indie artists have fallen for his cred-pop charms.
Let's see how that's worked out so far...
New Order
+
Xenomania
=
0
(Sessions cancelled after the band "realized they were not a pop band.")
Franz Ferdinand
+
Xenomania
=
0
(Sessions cancelled after the band decided "We are not a pop group.")
Gossip
+
Him Again
=
A Joyful Noise
(No sessions cancelled because no one involved managed to work out that Gossip isn't a pop band.)
Beth and Brian have gone for that ABBA-circa-79 look: lots of synths draped over everything like cream-colored chaise longues, Beth reclining and pouring melancholy like Marie Rose sauce onto a prawn cocktail of langour. It sounds pretty seductive, reading it back, but I am quite hungry as I write this. Sad to say that, bar the primally-screamed comet of joy that is "Melody Emergency," most of A Joyful Noise never quite gets to the point. Instead, it mopes around, a little lost, a little too arch in its stylization, trying to ooze pop energy without ever sounding the only way pop can ever sound if it is to succeed: effortless.
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Ace of Base's Secret Nazi Past
Before he founded Ace of Base, Ulf Ekberg was a member of Commit Suiside, a Nazi punk band.
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Parquet Courts - "Light Up Gold Road Trip" (Full Documentary)
In this new documentary, Noisey follows rising indie rockers Parquet Courts from Mexico to Texas and London as they tour to support their debut LP, 'Light Up Gold.'
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Yung Lean Doer Is the Weirdest 16-Year-Old White Swedish Rapper You'll Hear This Week
Yung Lean raps over pillow-fluffy beats and raps about glory holes and Arizona Iced Tea. Who the fuck is this kid? And why is he like this?
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Adam Ant - The British Masters, Chapter 6
Noisey's John Doran talks with the great post-punk pop star Adam Ant about tribal body mods and layering tape.
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Photos: Taking Acid at Coachella
When Paley sent these photos in, she included a nice little caveat over email that we've decided to reprint here in full, not only because it's too good to edit, but because her photographs of her and her weird buddies riding the snake are some of the best
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R.I.P. Storm Thorgerson (1944-2013)
On Thursday, the hyper-talented graphic designer, artist, and famed album cover creator Storm Thorgerson passed away after a battle with cancer. He was 69 years old.
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The Internet Is Scary
As of six months ago, my Facebook fanpage is like a dojo where hormonal teenagers hone their technique. Here is a heartfelt poem from some kid who wants to rape, kill, and marry me.
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I Accidentally Touched Little Richard's Butt One Time
It was in the Detroit airport. After it happened Little Richard said, "He graze my derriere."
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Listen to St. Lucia's Remix of The Colourist's "Little Games"
Last month, Cali quartet the Colourist released "Little Games," and St. Lucia just pulled a warm Balearic blanket over the whole thing, sanding away its rough edges with bright synths and lightly gated percussion.
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Aaron Montaigne, Godfather of Screamo, is More Interesting Than You Can Ever Hope to Be - Part Two
On surviving combat in Iraq and Afghanistan with the help of magic, 'Bladerunner,' and everything in between.
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