JAKE SHEARS – SELF-TITLED

There’s a bulging jockstrap full of style-oversubstance on the former Scissor Sisters’ debut solo album. Like the first singles, Creep City and

Big Bushy Moustache, their nifty titles might be the best thing about them. That leaves us with the sorry conclusion that Baby Daddy was indeed the musical genius behind the Sisters.

Luckily, the videos for Jake’s first two singles are flashily camp and Sad Song Backwards has a fine spray of his old band’s glitter, sequins and feather boas. Surprisingly, the album is musically conservative, as if a college covers band were having a Scissor Sisters night but avoiding the hits. “I’ve never felt so cocky about anything I’ve made,” Jake crows. The word “flaccid” springs to mind.