Scissor Sisters by Scissor Sisters (2004)

Back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, there was GLAM! A musical genre devoted to moustachioed men in women’s clothes who sometimes played music. Unfortunately, it died before the turn of the 1980s, at the beginning of a great musical ice age. Well, for better or for worse, some lizards survived whichever cataclysmic event fits this metaphor most conveniently, which leads us to (the) Scissor Sisters.

There’s really no question that these guys are channeling Roxy Music. There’s a definite glam feel to all these songs, underpinned by synths synthesising synths, strong basslines (a feat I thought impossible in this crazy new world), unorthodox guitars, and lyrics about being a moustachioed man in women’s clothes. They also managed to throw in saxaphones and violins.

Given their objective similarities, it’s no surprise that Scissor Sisters shares many strengths with Roxy Music. The songs are, for the most part, catchy, but still manage to be meaningful. They present quite a wide variety of moods, and do this quite convincingly, even if they’re presented in the same manner as one another. Except when they become too sappy. I guess they share their weaknesses too.

Of course, Roxy Music was 30 years ago, and Scissor Sisters are 30 years after Roxy Music. The production has been completely revamped to fit the new age. Paul Thompson’s crazy percussion has been replaced with a generic 4/4 beat. Brian Eno’s wildly experimental synths have been replaced by fairly generic Eno knock off (Enock off?) synths. The dark and dirty decadence has been replaced with generic squeaky clean vacuum. Plus generic orchestration.

Simply put, Scissor Sisters are Roxy Music without the drive. You could make the argument that the album works as simple, perhaps mindless, good time fun. But then the early Roxy Music albums had good time fun that made a point. There’s no point going in drag if you’re going to hide your moustache. So there’s no point listening to Scissor Sisters when Roxy Music are so much better.

But this misses a rather large point. Roxy Music finished up in 1982. Brian Eno had moved to ambience, and Bryan Ferry is best left unmentioned. So 22 years passed before anyone tried to sound like the old Roxy Music (or longer, since late Roxy Music really didn’t). And given the choice between being content with the original nine LPs, or listening to a new pseudo Roxy Music, which welcomes the new millenium while still holding some amount of the essence of the original, there’s no sensible reason to hate it.

Consequently, any Roxy Music enthusiasts (or glam enthusiasts in general) have something to gain from this record, if you can look past the modern production. You might even find it a plus. Besides, you can’t fault something which sounds so much like it came from Brian Eno’s loins. Or at least Robot Eno 2000’s loins.

~ by Draco N. Slayer on 27 December, 2008.