"Scissor Sisters" by Scissor Sisters
10 years ago this week saw the release of what is still my favourite album of all time.
I was 13 years old. My father went on a road trip down the east coast of the US with his best mate. Both of them moustachioed and riding Harleys (such badasses) and there I was pleading with my father to bring this album back with him for me, as it was released stateside long before it was released here in the U.K.
In my childlike naiveté I was excited to hear more from Scissor Sisters, they seemed fun, I heard their haunting cover of "Comfortably Numb" first and it was unlike anything I'd ever heard before and then I heard "Laura", the intro to which I thought sounded like the theme music to Thomas the Tank Engine, which was nice.
Beyond the children's TV similarities, the album was a sweet shop of camp and nostalgically referential treats. A blend of 70s Disco and 80s Rock some how sounded modern. It felt raw, a glittery sequin blade cutting through 90s and early 00s pop, it was like nothing else at the time. Having grown up listening to Elton John, the prospect of a modernised, more explicit, but equally as flamboyant act was too tantalising for words.
"Scissor Sisters" was the first album I ever knew every single word to. Every word of every song memorised and sang aloud. Coincidentally, it was also the very first album on which I genuinely loved every track and could listen to it from start to finish without skipping. Man, I wore that CD out in my Sony Walkman. I'm surprised it still works (the CD that is, the Walkman is sadly, long gone *longing face*)
