Saturday, May 23, 2009

Best of 2000s: Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters (5/5)

Just when you think pop music has become as sanitized and corporatized as possible, along comes an act like Scissor Sisters to stir things up and remind us just how much fun a big dose of high camp can be when laid out on such a winning set of melodic, '70s and '80s-loving pop songs. Scissor Sisters became the biggest selling album of 2004 in the UK and for good reason--it's perhaps the most purely fun album of the decade. "Take Your Mama" sings of the joys of taking your mom out with him for a evening of gay nightlife sounding like an updated take on Elton John, while "Comfortably Numb" remakes Pink Floyd for the dance floor. While great campy songs like "Filthy/Gorgeous," "Tits on the Radio" and Wham!-like "Lovers in the Backseat" are delivered with a wink and a nod, the band proves it can engender genuine emotion too on the emotional ballad "Mary." While all the members of the band have something to offer, credit is owed in particular to frontman Jake Spears and his songwriting partner Babydaddy, who went on to prove their production chops for lending a hand to Kylie's hit "I Believe in You."

Best: Take Your Mama, Laura, Comfortably Numb, Filthy/Gorgeous, Mary, The Music is the Victim, It Can't Come Quickly Enough

3 comments:

Myfizzypop said...

wasn't it a marvelous album. strangely i really liked the ballads on the second album but not on this one. odd huh? I could easily have milked 6 singles from this album though :) There time will come again :)

Matt said...

Incredibly catchy this one, though it lacks a little in my opinion. Not sure why. Still, a good album, and even though I haven't listened to it for a LONG time I can still remember the melodies, which counts for something, doesnt it?

Cook In / Dine Out said...

I hope they put out their third album before the end of the year. I liked Ta-Dah, but it wasn't as good as their debut.