Search - t.A.T.u. :: Dangerous and Moving

Who said 80s pop music never parted the Iron Curtain? T.A.T.U., the photogenic duo of Russian divas previously best known in the west for their supposed lesbianism and a risqué video for their hit "All The Things She Said," prove that the lessons of early-80s MTV weren't lost on the children of the former Soviet empire with "Dangerous and Moving." A comeback album of sorts in which the duo--Lena Katrina and Julia Volkova--has dropped the lesbian pretense (though not the coyly ambiguous lyrics), "Dangerous and Moving" is choc full of keyboard hooks that Flock of Seagulls would have been proud to claim, albeit with updated production values that place them closer to Avril Lavigne than to Tiffany. Grabbing some crunchy guitar riffs from Nirvana ("Loves Me Not"), some trippy flourishes a la Massive Attack ("Sacrifice") and a variety pack of punchy drum loops, the girls (or their production team anyway, which includes Trevor Horn and Dave Stewart on a track each) bid for Western pop superstardom yet again with what amounts to a sonic pastiche of the last 20 or so years of Top 40 radio. Much of this turns out to be a surprisingly guilt-free pleasure though, due mostly to the fact that the duo can generally sing better than most of their Western teen pop contemporaries, which helps songs like "Craving (I Only Want What I Can't Have)" and "All About Us" lodge themselves in your head and stay there after only one listen. --Ezra Gale