Back in 2004 a band with a lesbian sex act for a name renewed the world’s love of Elton John and the Bee Gees. The band called itself Scissor Sisters and their self-titled album was glitzy, flamboyant and damn-near irresistible. Though they were firmly rooted in some of the more absurd elements of the ’70s, their music spread like crazy, instilling in nearly everyone who heard it some serious disco fever. Soon, everyone from hip-hop enthusiasts to mopey emo-kids were singing about tits on the radio and taking their mamas out. It was as unexpected as it was glorious.
Given this situation, the pressure on the Scissor Sisters to repeat their successes must have been severe, as was the likelihood of the dreaded sophomore slump. Listening to the resultant album, Ta-dah!, isn’t a strikeout, but it also isn’t the home-run of their debut. This is largely because the Sisters can no longer rely on the element of surprise. People know who they are now and what they sound like, making it harder to turn heads with a neo-Bee Gees song about gay sex than it was two years ago. Despite this reality, the Sisters give an admirable effort on Ta-dah! The album is an awful lot of danceable fun, but it suffers from familiarity.
While this ’70s chart-topper mimicry is delightful now, it’s only a matter of time before the Sisters are viewed as some weird cover band who plays songs no one can remember. For now though, it’s just plain fun, if a little less than their debut.