Scissor Sisters Album: “Night Work”

I can't recall that many artists who have created such an amazing time period piece as Scissor Sister just did with Night Work. A concept album like Donna Summer's "I remember yesterday" or "Four Seasons of Love". "Night Work" A story about a guy or a woman going through life in the early 80s working in the club scene and everything it has to offer like sex, drugs, and of course dancing. Every song is amazing and builds upon each other. Everything on here will sound like its from the early 80s, even "Any Which Way" which has a funky Town and Slyvester "Do You Wanna Funk" feel, songs that were part of Hi-NRG movement that were popular in gay community after disco was dead. As many reviewers have said this has a 70's feel, it doesn't, it's pure early 80's dance.

Most artists are now shooting for the fast sing songy stuff with a Hip Hop jargon sound and Scissor Sister don't and it's very refreshing to see a dance record like this going against the norm. Pick up this album, this is their best work to date for sure.

I'm always looking for new music and new artists. I can never quite understand how some people listen to only one genre of music or don't open their ears and minds up to all the different styles out there. When I go to a concert I look for someone who can sing and has stage charisma, when I buy a CD I look for someone who can sing and has memorable music. Truth be told I never heard of Sissor Sisters or Jake Shears up until about one month ago. I find Jake intriguing. Love their funky music and their sound.

*** 1/2

It's clear from the front cover of "Night Work," which features a close-up of a spandex-clad, toned rear end, that the Scissor Sisters are not taking themselves too seriously with their third outing. It's also clear after a listen that they have no interest, at this point, in reinventing their sound.

Which isn't a bad thing. Their sound, although a pastiche of multiple influences, is still fairly unique sounding. Combine 70's disco (Jake Shear's falsetto sounds strikingly like the Bee Gees) with 80's electroclash, and then throw in a dash of punk attitude and a pinch of tongue-in-cheek sexuality, and voila ... instant fabulousness.

What keeps it all from being nothing but a hollow party is that the whole thing sounds like a real band, as opposed to a production made up mostly of electronic beats, samples, or studio musicians. You can tell that these people are living and working and playing and creating together. Jake Shear's lyrics, on close inspection, also come across as much more poignant as the party atmosphere might at first suggest.

My favorite songs on "Night Work" are the uptempo dance tracks. "Something Like This" throbs provocatively, "Sex and Violence" is sinister and sexy, and the closer, "Invisible Light", is a dancefloor epic that finishes with a spoken word homage to "Thriller" courtesy of Patrick Stewart. What's missing from this CD, that both their previous albums had, was at least one genuinely emotionally affecting song. The album tries, with "Fire With Fire", but it doesn't come close to the feeling behind tracks like "Can't Come Quickly Enough" from their debut, or "The Other Side" from "Ta-Dah".

Overall, I'd say it's a fun record, and I'm glad the Scissor Sisters are back with their usual bag of tricks. I'd like to see them trying adding a few new ones to their next outing.

The Scissor Sisters are an awesome band with a great deal of talent that have simply shot themselves in the foot. It's sad but most of the world is still too steeped in homophobia to see past the band's image into the meat of the actual music which is filled with monstrous hook-laden infectious rhythms that would make even Devo blush. In a world gone mad with Justin Beiber and thousands of other talentless drones as an excuse for pop music, I'm infuriated to think how criminally underrated these songs are and I hope that mainstream music will get some taste back. Take it from a heterosexual male, ignore the controversial cover of the album and listen to the music for the music and not for the people behind it.

God, I love this album. "Whole New Way" is SUCH a toe-tapping, head-nodding groove. How can I possibly play a song about buttseks over my speakers at work though? Headphones. That's how.