'Look good in cheap clothes' reviewed

A great review of the new album courtesy of Mike at Cambridge Music Reviews! Here's his thoughts in full...

"This excellent third full-length LP from Cambridge four-piece The Scissors pushes their sound into new territory musically and features words and ideas that chime with modern day concerns…
1. Plug Me In Kicking off with a chord from the soundtrack of a western, the sinister guitar of the verses is balanced by the organ-drenched chorus and it all ends very abruptly.
2. Parking Cars More of a rocker, driven by a pulsing bass riff. Not sure how the title line fits in but it is certainly catchy ‘…parking cars…you got to do it right…’ 3. Death Engineer A moody song about built-in obsolescence, suggesting that it is the responsibility of the title character. Around this lyrical resignation a Doors-sounding electric piano and rolling cymbals ominously threaten.
4. Look Good In Cheap Clothes A surreal monologue, spoken by frontman Stewart Harris as the band play freely with the structures and sonic textures. This is a companion to the disturbing artwork of the album front cover (which itself brings to mind the notorious Beatles ‘Yesterday And Today’ sleeve?)
5. I Dream In X-Ray Vision In case you thought the Scissors of old had disappeared this impressive track is a pounding reminder of their trademark sound, with unrelenting unified riff, dissonant guitar and even the theremin gets a look-in. The lyric of course has enough ambiguity and imagery to satisfy the diehard fan.
6. Edgelands Picking up the ‘edge of the world’ theme from the end of the previous song, this loose psychedelic americana is echoing and atmospheric, driven by a roving guitar and accordion.
7. When Is A Boy Not A Boy? A cinematic, sweeping track; a guitar solos plaintively over exciting drumming weaving in with a strong vocal performance.
8. Ufotopia This mid-tempo song is the longest on the album and features a subtly uplifting band sound with the questioning and resigned reflections from the narrator. A guest saxophone solo steals the show at the end.
BONUS TRACKS9. Glossy Magazines (EP ‘b’-side) This noisy staple of their live set is given a more introspective feel here, piling on the paranoia as the music moves in all sorts of unpredictable directions.
10. Electric Line Terminus (EP ‘b’-side) Another previous release and storming live track, this again has a Doors feel, a sort of doom-laden cataclysm of blues-based garage rock."

Strawberry Fair 2018 review

Pic by Adrian

Great review from Strawberry Fair by Cambridge Music Reviews... 
'Some years the event can be slow to get going but this time the weather brought out a substantial crowd early on, including an appreciative audience for The Scissors opening the Rebel Arts Stage at midday. After a decade at the forefront of the Cambridge scene they can still strike a pose and rip it up with the best of them, aided by a selection of their own fastest and loudest songs, including I thought an extra turning up of the blazing sound system to a volume beyond 11 halfway through the set. Having seen them recently in the confines of the Cornerhouse venue, their rich and hypnotic swirling sound easily steps up to an outdoor show.'

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'Haunted Mirror' album launch reviewed in Cambridge Music Reviews

Big thanks to everyone who made Saturday's album launch such a great night! Mike Wright posted a lovely review in Cambridge Music Reviews, reproduced in full here:

"After ten years on the Cambridge music scene The Scissors release a new album, the grammatically challenging ‘The Scissors Is The Haunted Mirror’.
The four-piece promise ‘carnival freakshow organ, primitive synths, and rock’n’roll guitar powered psychpunkpop.’ and much of this manifesto is to be heard in show starter ‘Come With Me’, the opening track on the LP. In the week that Keith Emerson of ELP became the latest rocker to die in 2016, it was good to be reminded of the great Hammond organ sound as it pushed its way into the chorus of this punchy bass-driven song.
‘No Go The Lowdown’ is a rocker with a cryptic lyric and the clever effect of all instruments and voice sharing the hook line. We had a brief acoustic interlude featuring antique accordion and acoustic guitar for ‘Attack Of The Phantom Teardrops’ then ‘Phone Calls From The Dead’ and final track ‘Your House Has Ghosts’ are back to noisy pop-rock. Best of all is the slow-burner blues of ‘Why Don’t You Cry’, with theremin textures (always fascinating to watch), guitar fireworks and the vocals from Stewart Harris making the most of the straight to the heart melody.
It was a good advert for the album (although I would have liked to hear the keyboard rushes and emotional turmoil hidden behind the title of of ‘Don’t Hate Me Just Because I’m Yours’).
Their free lyric sheet proclaimed it was ‘a phantasmagorical entertainment to thrill and beguile the senses…’, they certainly proved again that they are one of the best live bands in Cambridge."

Pic by Jay

Pic by Jay