Published on Oct 4, 2004
I will always remember Sunday, September 26th 2004, primarily
because of the Green Bay Packer-Indianapolis Colts game I was able
to attend (Note to Green Bay: LEARN HOW TO PLAY DEFENSE!). However,
something else happened that Sunday. What was that you ask? I found
a candidate for album of the year.
I make no bones about it; I’m a sucker for anything retro. I
play videogames on my Sega Genesis, I listen to classic rock on a
turntable my grandparents bought for me for graduation, and I’m a
history buff. So, when an album comes my way that sounds retro,
it’s already scored a few points in my book. However, Scissor
Sisters goes above and beyond my expectations for a “retro”
album.
Sometimes artists just take buckets of different paints, and
just dump them on a canvas, and voila, it’s proclaimed as art. That
is exactly what the Scissor Sisters have done on this album.
Remember any pop singles from the 70’s? You know, songs from Elton
John, Queen, ELO, the Bee Gees, ABBA, or practically any disco
single? Well, you can hear hints of practically all of them on this
album. The Scissor Sisters have taken the best elements of pop in
the 70’s, and mixed them all together. There’s even a bit of rock
and electronica in there for good measure.
There is something on every song on this album that will reel
people in. For me, it was hearing a clip of “Take Your Mama” and
going, “Holy Crap, is that Elton John circa 1971 singing?” For
others, it might be the Bee Gee inspired disco cover of Pink
Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” which despite my misgivings blew me
away. Or how about the R&B number “Laura”, with Stevie
Wonder-esque, vocoder inflected vocals? The list goes on and
on.
The Darkness hit it big this year, with their exaggerated lyrics
and over the top, Queen-like songs. While that didn’t work for me,
the Scissor Sisters take that same attitude, and make it work. The
material is lighter, which certainly helps, but there is a definite
“f*** you” attitude that permeates throughout the album. Everything
is intentionally campy and derivative. The band almost seems to be
daring you, the listener, to take this album seriously, which is
something you can’t. “Tits on the Radio”, “Filthy/Gorgeous,” if
these songs were in the hands of 99 out of 100 groups, we would
blast them for such material. However, the Scissor Sisters are that
one group that can pull it off.
I’ve mentioned that every song on this album is superb, but
there are some tracks that just transcend the rest of the album.
Those in particular would be tracks like “Mary” or the brilliant
“Return to Oz.” The former is a heart-tugging Elton piano ballad,
with a refrain reminiscent of “Tiny Dancer.” “Return to Oz” is a
mix between “Mother” from Pink Floyd’s The Wall, and Bowie’s “Space
Oddity,” with a David Gilmour-like solo to boot.
If there was ever a guilty pleasure album, this is it. It is
nearly flawless in every aspect, never losing momentum, and more
importantly, never taking itself seriously. And do you know what is
really scary? I forgot to mention, in my unabashed praise, that
this is their debut album.