Gossip singer Beth Ditto swears there’s no idle chatter to be bandied about over the Portland punk trio. Sure, she’s pals with celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. And yes, she posed completely nude on the cover of NME. And oh yeah, she might’ve called Britney Spears “hideous” that one time.

But trash talk aside, the group itself is something to be talked about. Gossip (formerly The Gossip) first electrified tastemakers with “Standing in the Way of Control,” (a song about the U.S. government’s anti-gay marriage stance), which features Beth’s powerhouse, tent-revival vocals, and landed on NME’s 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever list. Then they reached just about everyone else with their MTV Artist of the Week spots a few weeks back.

In our exclusive interview, Beth, along with guitarist Nathan Howdeshell and drummer Hannah Blilie, talk about dropping the “the” from their name, how Beth toured with a broken foot, and their new CD/DVD Live in Liverpool.