Scissor Sisters + Rye Rye | Concert preview

After sitting on a shelf next to an Eddie Murphy movie for a couple of years, Go! Pop! Bang!, the debut album by the baby M.I.A. from Baltimore, was finally released. I use baby literally—Rye Rye sounds like her mentor M.I.A., if M.I.A. were a preschooler sugar-rushing on juice boxes. The 21-year-old is the Muppet Babies to Maya Arulpragasam’s The Muppet Show.

That isn’t a bad thing in small doses. It can be sweet relief to hear that colorful brand of global collage pop without the gunfire. Rye Rye begs us to dance more than Yo Gabba Gabba!’s DJ Lance Rock implores chubby children, “C’mon, get up!” One song: “Drop.” Another (somewhat) different song: “Shake Twist Drop.” She is closer to a cheerleader than singer.

Her producers have buffed away her distinct, frantic B-more style on the album. Mainstream hacks like Tyga and Akon are tacked on her bumpy bubblegum rap numbers like Mr. Potato Head noses. Fortunately, that falls away live. Akon won’t be there in person. You might not want to listen to a cheerleader’s record, but face-to-face, you’ll be waving a giant foam finger.

Like Gossip, Scissor Sisters have wisely given up on the American mainstream, instead focusing on crafting albums for gay clubs and European crowds. Can you blame them? Which crowds have more fun? Magic Hour, the party-starters’ fourth, utilizes a more modern digital sound with help from producers Boys Noize, Pharrell Williams and Calvin Harris. Jake Shears rhymes boobies with hooptie. This gig comes at the close of Pride. Can you imagine a more joyous room to be in this evening?