Alternative
1. Not Gonna Get Us
2. All the Things She Said
3. Show Me Love
4. 30 Minutes
5. How Soon Is Now?
6. Clowns (Can You See Me Now?)
7. Malchik Gay
8. Stars
9. Ya Shosla s Uma
10. Nas ne Dagoniat
11. Show Me Love (extended)
12. All the Things She Said (Video)
It's fortunate - to say - that the music industry can still be an entertaining place where someone can pass his/her time. Do you remember when I was telling you that we shouldn't leave the future of rock 'n' roll to the hands of women? Now, if it is for two seventeen year-old little Russians - who, in a deceiving way, play the lesbians, caress each other in photographs, and through them the whole electronic pomp rock kitsch of Frankie Goes To Hollywood comes back to the mainstream - then hurray! let them do whatever on earth they wanna do. And they have the best ever cover of "How Soon Is Now?" by the Smiths!
Well, here's Tatu! (Now don't expect silly jokes of the "Vicar in A..." kind...Tatu, ok?) Yulia and Lena, chosen among 500 other... ruskayas by a guy who seems like a cross between Thanos Askitis (note: well-known sexologist in Greece) and Johnny Kalimeris (well-known playboy ) of Russia - if I gathered correctly - to form the first exported pop product of their country for the new millenium. And their album is much more than just fine, in fact, I'd say I discovered a lot of fine things inside it...
Under the vigilant eye of Trevor Horn (responsible for the 80% of what the rockers call the "sinful" sound of the 80's, as member of the Buggles, Thomas Dolby, Pet Shop Boys, F.G.T.H., ABC, Art of Noise, Grace Jones etc. etc., Horn is something like the Phil Spector of the "plush" electropop sound) Tatu's singles acquire "gigantic" dimensions and sound addictive, entertaining and topical in a substantial way (like every decent pop song ought to do!). The first two - and best - are "Not Gonna Get Us" and "All The Things She Said", which you'd probably know from their "adventurous" videos that are sweeping every music station by storm at the moment. In the sound of Tatu, there are filtered elements of all the above acts, from the teen idols of today, from some forgotten and dusty rhythm & bass boxes which - possibly through the black market - ended up in the studios of Russia, from the riffs that Snap didn't have the time to use when they were in their glory, etc. About "How Soon Is Now?" I've told you already, haven't I? Superb style for the perennially ambivalent eroticism of the Smiths' songs, an extra point is already been placed!
The record is supposed to describe the "unlawful" love that the two kids experience, their efforts to escape, the hide-and-seek that follows, the vows of eternal gay love they exchange, a shag here and there when they calm down for a while, etc. Even if one sees it as a nice little tale, it's still more than just fine, considering that in the past, we've occupied ourselves with albums that describe surgeries, collapses of buildings, contaminations of waters and other such perversions. Personally, I find this current concept all the more interesting!
So, with all that, Tatu hit the top of the usual suspects of countries susceptible to such surreal-o-kitch situations (Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, etc.).
We declare that we're fans of the music, of the attitude, and, of course, of the ideas of their photographer, we finally salute the only worthy successors of Shampoo, and oh... let me not forget to mention that I go for the one with the short hair, although I'm not sure whether it's either Yulia or Lena. (It's Yulia, I've looked through it: Everybody: go Yulia!! -ed.)
Aris Karabeazis
Translation by spyretto.
Source: Mic.Gr |
