The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 40

6E FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 2004 THE TIMES shreveporttimes.com Music REVIEWS Nothing's gonna stop Scissor Sisters Gannett News Service Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters Dismissed by the hard-of hearing as cabaret cutups, Scissor Sisters may have to crank up a few stereos and smash a few stereotypes to convince the mainstream that they aren't the new Village People. With three openly gay players, campy threads and unabashed dancefloor lust, the New York quintet (four men, one woman, no siblings) risks novelty status, but that threat evaporates in the glorious melodies, crackling rhythms and steely pop infrastructure that solidify these flamboyant, fresh and frisky tunes. Singers Jake Shears (a former go-go dancer) and Ana Matronic, bassist Babydaddy, guitarist Del Marquis and drummer Paddy Boom bring verve and nerve to discofied glamrock that recalls early Elton John in the poignant Mary and roaring Take Your Mama and the Bee Gees in a radical makeover of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. While the Sisters get serious about New York's conservative crackdown in Tts on the Radio and meth addiction in Return to Oz, the club never cools, especially when the mood turns a classy honey kissy huggy lovey dovey ghetto You go, grrrls. Edna Gundersen Terror Squad True Story Fat Joe's Bronx crew comes out slamming with its first album since the untimely 2001 death of risng superstar Big Punisher (Christopher Rios).

The lineup has been shuffled a bit, with mainstays Joe, Armageddon and Prospect joined by Remy and Tony Sunshine, who replace the departed Triple Seis and Cuban Link. Remy's edgy lyrics and Sunshine's smooth crooning ensure that both newcomers waste no time making their presence felt. The Squad's assault on the airwaves is led by what could be the club anthem of the summer, Lean Back. Other standouts include the soulful Nothing's Gonna Stop Me, thug love jam Take Me Home and the pointed Pass Away. Bring 'Em Back pays homage to Pun and Big (who worked with Fat Joe before a fatal shooting) and lets the late MCs have their say.

Fat Joe is the unifying force throughout, and even with the changes, the Terror Squad is still pretty rugged. Steve Jones Lloyd Southside Irv Gotti's newest protege has stirred some heat with his guitarkissed title track with Ashanti. As with most Gotti-supervised projects, the beats are hot and soulful. Unfortunately, the same can't always be said for thug-player Lloyd. He's at his best on such sexy ballads as Hey Young Girl and Cadillac Love, The authoritative book on the black history of Shreveport.

The Blacker The A Black History of Shreveport by Willie Burton Purchase your copy for $23 at the following locations: The Times Milloy's Photographics Inc. 222 Lake Street 2303 Milam Street Barnes Noble Booksellers Modern Beauty Salon 6646 Youree 1544 Milam Street Mt. Canaan Baptist Church 86 County Market 3709 Greenwood Road 1666 Alston 6363 Hearne Avenue Nubian Bookstore Russell Books 3800 block Linwood Ave. 129 Kings Highway Southern University Flynn's Church Supply Bookstore 1642 Milam Street 3050 ML.K Jr. Drive The Gospel Shop White's Printing 2001 E.

Texas, Bossier 1023 Norma Avenue Greenwood Acres Full call Willie Burton Gospel Baptist Church (318) 674-3361 The Times 7480 Greenwood Road or order online at 2800 N. Hearne Ave. shreveporttimes.com. shreveport.imes.com Scissor Sisters lead singer Jake a club in this March 2004 file their own on their latest release. but lame street-oriented songs such as Hustler and I'm a never really ring true.

As a singer, Lloyd proves seductive; but as co-writer of all the songs, he shares the blame for their inconsistency. Maybe with experience, the pen will catch up to his voice. Steve Jones Edwin McCain Scream Whisper As the title of his first studio album in three years reinforces, subtlety has never been McCain's strong suit. Still, the is more musically savvy and less mawkish than many of his navelgazing peers. And as socially conscious tunes such as Good Enough and the more graceful White Crosses prove, McCain's earnestness isn't reserved for the kind of whiny solipsism that mars so much contemporary guitar-pop.

Elysa Gardner Bad Religion The Empire Strikes First In its 24th year, the veteran California punk band hasn't lost its venom, its muscle or its backbone. Empire opens with Overture, a menacing instrumental that sets the stage for a wave of vitriolic assaults. Many of these forceful anthems would dovetail nicely with vignettes in Fahrenheit and none of them will be on the sound system at the Republican convention. Singer Greg Graffin unleashes outrage and indignation as he rails against the Bush administration in Let Them Eat War and other teeth-gnashing, guitar-grinding tunes on this seething manifesto. Urgent and timely, Empire also addresses environmental misuse (Los Angeles Is Burning), predatory priests (Sinister Rouge) and tensions (Atheist Peace), rendering the whines of AP Shears and Ana Matronic perform at photo.

The band tries to find a place of skateboarder punks feeble and self -involved. The band doesn't leave melody and hooks out of the equation, making Empire one of the year's meatiest punk efforts. Edna Gundersen Universal Honey Vicious Circles Fifty years or so after rock 'n' roll's birth, all mainstream pop-rock has become derivative: elements of the past recycled and recombined. The trick is to make it sound fresh, and this veteran Canadian malefemale duo has the knack. There are echoes of ABBA, Fleetwood Mac, The Pretenders and even Black Sabbath (Circles' riff is a pop-wrought Iron Man variation), but the closest comparison is the underrated Swedish duo Roxette.

Honey's Leslie Stanwyck and Johnny Sinclair share a flair for the glorious pop chorus, the insidious guitar figure and the deeply meaningless lyric that made Roxette's pop confections such a joy ride in the '90s. Ken Barnes Regina Belle Lazy Afternoon Veteran star Belle breathes new life into an eclectic set of jazz standards, show tunes and classics. Though the songs are familiar, the arrangements often are not, and the sultry singer backed by a stellar George Duke-led band puts her own stamp on them. She lets the groove build slowly on Fly Me to the Moon before it eventually takes off, and offers a bluesy take on Otis Redding's Try a Little Tenderness. Her impromptu riffing with her background singers on The Love I Lost For the Love of You is a joy.

The same can be said of other songs, such as the sexy Brazilian ballad Corcovado and the hopeful The Man I Love. It's a nice way to spend an afternoon. Steve Jones A LEGEND IN YOUR OWN BACK YARD AWZ OPENS TOMORROW! EARTH' SHOW BAR DAILEY HOMETOWN EDITION AUG. CENTURYTEL the Come one hour -Access encly to Preshow meet the FREE perfonnore to sit and ticketbolders. animals at 7 8 CENTER For the fastest and easiest way to order tickets, go to www.flingling.com Sat.

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