Last week, in order to squeeze in another 50 parking slots for the upcoming Superbowl, Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick ordered the demolition of the abandoned office building that served as home to Motown Records’ brain trust between 1968 to 1972. It’s quite a middle finger to the iconic label’s legacy.

The Gossip’s Standing in the Way of Control delivers another sure sign that Motown’s days are over. Instead of a rust-belt diva and Barry Gordy Jr. magic, one of this year’s most soulful albums comes from a gang of white punk rock kids transplanted to the Pacific Northwest from Arkansas. Soul purists will hang their head and mutter about the decline of soul and a dying tradition, for sure.

They couldn’t be more wrong.

Although Detroit’s wrecking-ball-as-progress treatment of Motown’s old headquarters is a symptom of the city selling out its soul tradition for football fans’ deep pockets, The Gossip come into their own on Standing in the Way of Control to deliver a stunning soul-punk effort. Chalk up a good part of that success to singer Beth’s smoky, after-hours delivery. Where she always had the below-the-belt heat-storm thing going, she finds the reserve necessary to retreat into a nightclub coo here, a throaty soul shout there. She still finds room to open up and really wail, scream and holler her way through a song when she needs it, but this record turns around her restraint and maturity. Guitarist/bassist Brace and new drummer Hannah provide Beth with the perfect backing band, weaving just enough booty-shaking grooves to give her vocals something to which to cling.

The trio leans heavily toward the “soul” end of its punk-soul hybrid on Standing in the Way of Control, and backs away some of the jump-blues roots of its previous efforts. “Coal to Diamonds” is a low-lit, slow-burner where Beth channels the hurt of a generation’s jilted lovers, and “Holy Water” locks horns with BellRays-styled R&B-punk, though The Gossip slows things down enough to let its soul side lead the dance. “Jealous Girls” warbles and wobbles along on the one-two groove of Brace’s mushy-distorted guitar and bass, while “Listen Up!” pounds the blues-rock-funk through the roof.

The Gossip might have cut its teeth as a soul/punk/garage outfit, but with Standing in the Way of Control, the band becomes so much more. Led by Beth’s workhorse vocals and versatility, The Gossip twists soul, blues and funk into something new on this one. Consider it just another wrecking ball tearing into Motor City’s rusted-out legacy of soul supremacy.