Greatest Fritz

If the Scissor Sisters aren’t edgy enough for you, perhaps Fritz Helder and The Phantoms are more your speed. Hailing from Toronto, this multi-culti militia of obsessed fashionistas — whose leader looks like Jermaine Stewart one moment, Daryl Hannah in Blade Runner the next — are cocky enough to title their debut album Greatest Hits: Platinum Edition (available July 7), the first release on Nelly Furtado's new record label. It includes “Making a Scene,” a club-quaking first single that features such party-startin’ mantras as “coke and crack and all that shit/takin’ a hit, makin’ it quick.” Top that, Jake Shears!

Brash, brassy and bitchy in equal measure, Fritz and his phantom menaces crank out the sort of chunky club beats that inspire involuntary hip-throwing, sashaying and pursing of the lips. Their preferred milieu is the runway (“Lagerfeld Lady,” “You Ain’t Vogue”), but “Sex Robot” and “Work It” prove these style junkies are equipped to burn any disco down.

They even ditch 4/4 beats for acoustic guitars and sing-a-long melodies on “Like a Lady,” a charming album closer that gets an “A” for effort. Their pop smarts may not be Scissor-caliber yet, but these determined doyennes-to-be have moxie to spare.


Greatest Hits: Platinum Edition will be available July 7 from Nelstar Music/Last Gang Records.