The flamboyant American pop quintet Scissor Sisters has really gone off the deep end this time, and there's only one word to describe it: fabulous.
Ta-Dah, the group's sophomore effort, takes the disco and glam-rock influences evident on their 2004 self-titled debut and goes straight, so to speak, for the gold. Instead of just sounding reminiscent of 1975 like its first release, the sounds on the latest album could pass for music written and produced back then and no one would be the wiser.
The New York City-based group found huge success overseas with their first album, going multi-platinum and touring sold-out shows all over the United Kingdom. Their 2004 release was the highest-selling album in the U.K. that year, and it looks like this release might just do it again.
Compared to their debut effort, Ta-Dah seems faster and features more danceable tracks, a few ballads evocative of "It Can't Come Quickly Enough," and more than a couple of songs that make listeners go "Hmm."
"I Don't Feel Like Dancin'," the album's intoxicating and completely outrageous first single, includes a piano part by none other than Elton John, set among a barrage of ludicrous synth drums and a driving beat, highlighted by vocalist Jake Shears' distinctively Abba-riffic pipes. The song already sits comfortably atop the charts in Britain and Spain, mimicking the success of the first album's cover of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" by becoming a club favorite.
"Ooh" and "Paul McCartney" are two more upbeat and addictive tracks that feature simultaneously absurd and invigorating choruses. Once the Shear ludicrousness of the vocals fades away, the songs are energizing, making Ta-Dah a perfect album for the car.
"She's My Man" is more negatively charged than the other upbeat tracks, but it's charged nonetheless. The song provides a perfect segue into the slightly deranged "I Can't Decide," which sounds like a circus act. Shears considers whether or not to kill, presumably, the listener — "I could throw you in the lake or feed you poisoned birthday cake/ I won't deny I'm gonna miss you when you're gone."
"Intermission" is another delightful carnival track that sounds like a 1920s barbershop quartet ditty but hides dark undertones — a recurring Scissor Sisters theme.
The album's final three tracks, "The Other Side," "Might Tell You Tonight" and "Everybody Wants the Same Thing," take everything down a notch. They're like a cool-down walk after a workout. Though, oddly enough, the slowest point on the album is reached during the fifth track, "Land of a Thousand Words," which brings to mind "Return to Oz" and "It Can't Come Quickly Enough," songs from the group's first album.
The Ta-Dah U.K. Deluxe Edition also comes with a bonus disc, offering 6 extra tracks that are definitely worth the extra $5. "Hair Baby" is apparently based on the phenomena of tumors containing partially formed fetuses, and "Making Ladies" is a haunting track highlighting bizarre vocals by what sounds like an old Irish woman and a computer. Seriously, it's freaky — at one point, a masculine-sounding woman proclaims, "My name is Cathy Curtis and I'm so happy to be here. I'm in my fourth year of studying taxidermy, and I love hunting deer."
Last on the bonus disc is a remix of "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" that is even more upbeat than the original.
One slightly disappointing aspect of the album, however irrelevant, is its lack of sufficiently kick-ass artwork. The previous album and all of its singles boasted cover art by Spookytim of Studio Spooky (www.studiospooky.tv), a U.K.-based design firm specializing in totally awesome, realistic graphic illustration. The cover of Ta-Dah is basically a funny picture whose cutline would probably be "Ta-dah!"
But if that's the only negative thing worth writing about, it says quite a bit about the album — Ta-Dah is a great listen and an amazing follow-up to one of 2004's best albums.
Grade: 4.5 out of 5
