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Ta-Dah

by Scissor Sisters

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Since not liking the Scissor Sisters is tantamount to not liking fun, let's just assume that everyone already adores this band and go on from there, OK? The Sisters' hotly anticipated second full-length feel like a streamlined continuation of their debut. It's hard to imagine no one had ever called an album Ta Dah! before, but then these sexy troubadours have no trouble subtly reworking the past to make it almost-new and always joyous. They may have emerged in a brief window when campy pastiche rock seemed like the next big thing, but just as their friends Fischerspooner did with the electroclash "movement," the Scissor Sister possess an elevated enough sense of fun, popcraft, and good enough connections to carry them for years. Hell, the first track on this album, the wonderful confection "Don't Feel Like Dancin," was co-written with Sir Elton John, and it sounds like Abba, Fleetwood Mac and Xanadu all at once. Other tunes might have you thinking of Bowie or the Bee Gees or Prince or Pink Floyd or even the Carpenters, but only as cagily reimagined in a glittery, wonderful, post-Hedwig/ Velvet Goldmine world. --Mike McGonigal