It May Be An Old Question, But Salient Still (Curve Magazine)

Time of publication: 05.07.2003

IT MAY BE AN OLD QUESTION, BUT SALIENT STILL:

Are they or aren't they?

Pop electronica duo Tatu (often styled "t.A.T.u." in an attempt to convey the original Russian letters, which stand for "This Girl Loves That Girl") first made waves with their 2001 single "Ya Soshla S Uma" ("All the Things She Said"), which made MTV Video of the Year in Russia and titillated listeners with a different kind of love story (hint: it's girl-on-girl). Their debut album, 200 Km/H in the Wrong Lane, sold more than a million copies and catapulted the naughty 18-year-olds into the spotlight. An English-language version of the album soon followed from Interscope Records and Tatu officially touched down in the West, only to have their make-out sessions censored by everyone from NBC to the BBC. MTV, on the other hand, didn't bat an eye at their racy video, which features Tatu's Julia Volkova and Lena Katina tightly clad in school uniforms, fondling and kissing each other like they mean it.

Those antics have earned Tatu extensive coverage in everything from She to Rolling Stone. (Guyville magazine Maxim's photo essay included a shot of one girl biting the other.) The girls insisted to a German newspaper, "We really love each other and the sex is phenomenal. It's a thousand times better than with a man. And contrary to what others might say, we don't just talk about it. We have sex at least three times a day." They told U.K. lesbian magazine Diva, "So you want to hear that we are sleeping together...every night? ...of course we do!" And Lena told The New Yorker that Julia's responsible for their special connection: "She corrupted me. She corrupted me and now look what's become of me."

So what if it's the stuff of male fantasies? It works like a charm when it comes to ratings, which is just fine by Tatu's manager, Ivan Shapovalov, the Russian child psychologist-turned-advertising executive who discovered the girls when they were a mere 14. The BBC has quoted Shapovalov as admitting that Tatu is an "underage sex project" designed to appeal to men in search of "underage entertainment" - a tactic soundly denounced by child-welfare organizations. (Shapovalov later denied that Tatu's image is based on pornography, and suggested that Westerners are simply "prudes.")

Some reviewers protest the way obsession with the girls' sexuality has eclipsed their actual music, which combines synth-heavy Europop with teenage angst worthy of the Smiths (their cover of "How Soon Is Now?" has earned critical raves.) Meanwhile, recent reports suggest Volkova and Katina are stowing away boyfriends back home in Russia. They told Maxim, "We don't want to classify ourselves as lesbian or bisexual. We are just we." Confusing, perhaps. But maybe, like many in the younger generation, the Tatu girls simply reject identity politics.

And there's nothing like controversy to spur record sales.

- Julia Bloch; Curve Magazine

Transcription by Kouketsuno_Rei.
TatySite.Net

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