Pitchfork

Having come a damn long way-- from being a gang of lads in Leeds in the late 1970s to becoming one of the most exciting and influential bands of the post-punk era to proving their lasting vitality with a recent reunion tour-- Gang of Four won't be slowing down anytime soon.

Now comes news that the Four-piece have a brand new record in the works, their first set of new material since 1995's Shrinkwrapped and first with the original lineup since 1981's Solid Gold, barring last year's re-recordings disc Return the Gift.

Pitchfork recently phoned up the man behind Gang of Four's groove, bassist Dave Allen, for a chat about GoF's musical offering to the twenty-first century.

"We're in the very early stages," Allen told Pitchfork. "[Guitarist] Andy Gill and I have been talking-- that's how Gang of Four starts with stuff like this: there's a lot of talking about what do we want to do, how can we do it, is there a need for it? That was a big question for me. After Entertainment! and Solid Gold, we've got to be careful, we've got to deliver something rather special.

"I wanted to be sure that me Andy and [vocalist] Jon [King] especially were fired up about things, and I think we are. I think there's enough going on in the world for us to start pontificating again."

Next week Allen will fly out to London to work with Gill on the music, and the two will share ideas with King, who'll begin drafting lyrics-- pontificating, as it were.

The inclusion of the Gang's "Natural's Not in It"-- from their hallowed 1979 debut, Entertainment!-- in new Sofia Coppola flick Marie Antoinette has sparked renewed interest in the band, something Allen and company well realize.

"On the back of the success of this Marie Antoinette movie," said Allen, "we just figured, just as we felt things might be quieting down, it looks like 2007 is going to be just as busy for Gang of Four.

"And we figured, it doesn't make sense to just go out and keep playing the old stuff. We wanted to put a new album together."

Gang of Four were invited by Thurston Moore to play All Tomorrow's Parties' Nightmare Before Christmas event, alongside Sonic Youth, Iggy & the Stooges, Deerhoof, Dinosaur Jr., and more. That spooky happening goes down from December 8-10 at Butlins Holiday Centre in Minehead, England. Gang with also play a festival in Paris on November 11, and have a few tentative dates lined up in Portland (Oregon), Norway, and Turkey.

Allen himself keeps quite busy as president and co-founder of record label/management company/web developer Pampelmoose, and he recently produced the new record by Portland upstarts and label signing Wet Confetti. Stay tuned to Pitchfork later this week for Allen's thoughts on working with WC and all the latest information.