The Gossip “Standing in the Way of Control” (Soulwax Nite Version)

The birth of our underground brand Factory 93 not only brought on an adrenaline rush reminiscent of the renegade warehouse era of raving—on which Insomniac was founded—but it also had us thinking back to all the people, places and parties that made this whole operation possible. And with that came a burning desire to crack open our collection and dust off the classic records we couldn’t live without. Through our From the Crate series, we’ll be breaking out both seminal and obscure cuts alike, imparting some knowledge in the process.

Midway through the 2008 Soulwax documentary Part of the Weekend Never Dies, there is a sequence where the filmmaker cleverly cuts between dozens of clips of the group’s principal players, Stephen and David Dewaele, DJing throughout the world. In each split-second shot, the live audio quality jumps from thunderously distorted to tinny and compressed, depending on the atmosphere of each gig that varies from towering festival stages to jam-packed sweatbox bars. Throughout the montage, the staccato beat remains constant—the heart-racing 16th note hiccup of a CDJ loop that slowly opens up to reveal the ass-shaking bass groove of the Gossip’s post-millennial indie classic “Standing in the Way of Control,” a song that dominated dancefloors throughout the middle of the decade in its “Soulwax Nite Version” form.

By the time Beth Ditto’s vocals begin, the audiences are seething—thousands sing along as she belts out the signature “Whoa-oh” lyrics. And when the chorus comes slamming down? It’s pure pandemonium, dance music at its most visceral and euphoric. Crashing cymbals and grinding bass mix with a feral blend of sweat, smoke and strobe lights so potent, you can’t help but squirm in your seat, transfixed by the YouTube player. It’s as if someone built a time machine and sent you back a decade, to the moment when the fissionable materials of electronic and indie music first began to generate the kinetic energy that would combust into EDM.

At the time, no one could predict such an explosion. Decimated by disinterest in the early aughts, dance music’s prognosis seemed grim. The electronica bubble had burst in the United States, under the weight of mainstream expectations and government interference. Even the mega clubs of Europe had waned, while worldwide, good old rock ‘n’ roll was getting another go-around, thanks to bands like the Strokes and the Killers—the latter of whom headlined Ultra Music Festival 2005 in the ultimate concession to dance music’s inability to sell tickets. But beneath the slick suits, tight denim, and thrift store dresses of bands like Interpol, Bloc Party, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, beat the heart of millennials raised on raves—a 4/4 funk that even the scene’s most outspoken empresario, James Murphy, found after years spent standing in a dour punk posture.

The Gossip was another one of these bands, hailing from the almost forgotten Riot Grrl outpost of Olympia, Washington—a place that hadn’t made a blip on the cool-kid-radar since neighboring Seattle had given the world grunge. Ditto was a force of nature onstage, stripping down her plus-size body and wailing like a hipster Aretha Franklin, while guitarist Nathan “Brace Paine” Howdeshell and drummer Hannah Blilie bashed out tunes that blended raw blues riffs à la the White Stripes with groovy minimal beats straight out of ESG’s ‘80s basement tapes. Sure, their sound had soul, but as the moshing audiences indicated, you didn’t really dance to it.