I Don't Feel Like Dancing
by John J. Madonna
As far as my musical tastes go, I have two main tenets. Firstly, I hold that Queen is the greatest band that ever was or will be. Second, I don’t much fancy music in the "Dance/Electronica" genre: just not my cup of meat. That being said, I tuned into Saturday Night Live back in 2004 and saw the obscurely obscenely named band Scissor Sisters. Taking one look at their falsetto lead singer wearing a onesie and listening to the music, I realized something. These people love Queen almost as much as I do, because “Take Your Mama” (the song I was hearing) could easily be on any of Queen’s records.
As soon as I could, I checked out Scissor Sisters’ debut eponymous album. It was okay by my tastes (though highly praised by those in the Dance crowd.) The two tracks I had heard on SNL ended up being the only two I really liked, “Take Your Mama,” which was something of a mix of Elton John, Queen, the disco-years BeeGees, Michael Jackson (the MJ from Thriller and Off the Wall,) and just enough of Scissor Sisters’ dance sensibilities to really make it their own, and a cover of ’s “Comfortably Numb” that melded it to “Edge of Seventeen” in a way that Floyd purists balked at, but as a person who doesn’t much care for The Wall, I actual prefer it to the original. And even though I didn’t really like their debut that much, their influences were clear in every track, the live show was great, and if they ever decided to tone down the Dance themes in their music, they could release one great rock album.
Ta-Dah, that next album, finally came back in 2006 and it certainly lived up to expectations. I knew they’d never give up Dance music, as they clearly loved it, but I knew I would also hear some tunes in the same vein as the rocking “Take Your Mama.” The song “Lights” is probably more BeeGees than The BeeGees, and if tracks like “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’” or “Intermission” (an absolutely amazing song) sound a little too Elton John-ish, it’s because John is actually either playing the piano or he co-wrote it.
Scissor Sisters are a band I never thought I would like, but they are not a run of the mill band vying for a spot on the next edition of DDR, rather eclectics that integrate pop, rock, disco, glam, and everything else into what they do, not to mention a good dose of originality. And frankly, as far as I’m concerned, any band with a lead singer in a unitard deserves a second look.
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