Pop Go the Scissor Sisters
I'll come right out and say that the Scissor Sisters are dirty, sexual, trendy ... and completely irresistible. Rehashing the undercurrents of 1970s and '80s pop, with some disco and techno feel, the Scissor Sisters are both talented and inventive; they've been compared to Elton John and the Bee Gees - and this is their debut!
Though they share the in-your-face sexuality, the dancy/punkness of the synthesizer organ and the rhythm-setting keyboard of bands like Dogs Die in Hot Cars, the SS are much less "indie" and far more flamboyant. This girl and her four boys present themselves as straight off the L.A. fashion runway; think David Bowie, but 2005. Their sound is explosive and imaginative, using pianos and falsetto-high voices and further complicating things with short classic-rock guitar solos and background saxophone.
The dressed-up, sped-up, disco version of Pink Floyd's classic "Comfortably Numb," is unabashedly retro, while the catchy single, "Take Your Mama Out," is the flagship carrying DelMarquiz, AnaMatronic, JakeShears, Babydaddy and PaddyBoom, (the members' nicknames). The toe-tappin', ass-shakin' "Music is the Victim," sports the Scissor Sisters' sassiness: "I left my man in Houston, Texas / just before he finished breakfast."
And if you're not dancing by the time you slide through "Lovers in the Backseat" - with its voyeuristic lyric, "In the shadows you can touch one another / and I'll just watch the show" - and the raunchy tune "Filthy/ gorgeous," please check your pulse.
Overall, this is a beautifully mature album, leaving its fellow '80s idolizing bands panting in the dust and leaving you wanting nothing more.