Album Review: Jake Shears

In the Scissor Sisters’ early days, Jake Shears would sometimes supplement the meagre income the band generated from their sweaty shows in New York basement clubs by going solo – as a stripper and a go-go dancer.
They eventually hit it big in the UK, of course, with their cover of ‘Comfortably Numb’ and later ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’, but it’s clear that Shears still feels like he has something to prove in America.
“New York may destroy me, LA might ignore me,” Shears sings on closer ‘Mississippi Delta (I’m Your Man)’ – which explains why he decamped to New Orleans to explore rootsier Americana sounds on this debut solo effort.
Thankfully, Shears’ effervescence matches well with the Mardi Gras energy of his host city, and together with members of My Morning Jacket/Arcade Fire collaborators the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, he’s served up an absolute riot.
‘Big Bushy Mustache’ is an early highlight – the line “I want a porn star handlebar/ And a neon pink Mustang as my car” is a great tribute to bear culture. Later the filthy solo on ‘S.O.B’ – standing for ‘Sex On The Brain’ rather than ‘Son Of A Bitch’ – sums up the sleazy aesthetic at play here.
In the debit column, a couple of the slower numbers (‘All For What’ in particular) are too nakedly in thrall to The Beatles to make any great impact. For the most part, however, Shears’ energy elevates this above Gaga’s Joanna and other efforts at Americana from the pop sphere. Well worth a listen.

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