It is the most disgusting thing I have ever read,' guffaws Steve Hewitt, Placebo's drummer. 'I remember opening the papers and reading it and saying 'God, it's terrible'...' Not that Hewitt is blaming the tabloids for printing something fake and obscene about the band - nor is he referring to some huge backlash against the band's creative output.
The centre of controversy, in fact, was something that came straight from his bandmate's mouth - when Placebo's frontman Brian Molko famously pronounced that the band had 'left behind a trail of blood and spunk' while touring Britain and Europe.
The mere mention of his bandmate's glorious proclamation draws a sigh from Hewitt.
'I wasn't there when they said all that,' he says, detaching himself from the excessive bigmouthing Molko and bassist Stefan Olsdal are partial to.
He was there, however, when the band landed in the public's consciousness with more-than-public bouts of rock 'n' roll behaviour: they once commented in a magazine on their on-tour carnal adventures - country by country.
Hewitt might well be laughing now, but Placebo earned their place in the high echelons of the pop hierarchy partly - if not solely - on gay abandon.