Thursday, March 13, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

CDVS

T.a.t.u.

At some time during the past four years, when laddie magazines like Maxim took off, some corporate flack must've taken a close look at these rags and thought, "Hmm, boys sure do like their girls to be overtly sexual, especially when their girls are sexual with each other--I've got it! Let's create two post-Britneys and have them make out in their video!" But before the call to the A&R department upstairs was made, little did the flack know, one such pair already existed: T.a.t.u., the kinderwhore duo from Russia who specialize in rocktronica pop and softcore music videos.

You might know T.a.t.u.'s video, "All the Things She Said." MTV has blown up these barely legal (and very affectionate) hussies, much to the delight of their target, hormone-surging demographic. And while it's perfectly acceptable to be skeptical of anything the musically challenged network breaks, you can surrender yourself to young Lena Katina and Julia Volkova. Their mostly English-translation album, 200 KM/H in the Wrong Lane, is more than just a guilty pleasure. It's a celebration of love, youth and expressionism (death threats be damned), on the Europop tip. It has its Spice Girls moment, its Go-Go's moment, its Jill Sobule moments--lotsa playful girl moments that feel earnestly romantic (Katina and Volkova have admitted to be lovers, though they play it vague in recent interviews) and defiantly confident. It's not very long--there are eight compositions here, none of which the duo wrote, including a bright-eyed cover of the Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?"--but even if it's short on ambition and gimmick-friendly, its convention-bucking feels a little more than novelty.

Which brings us to the Indigo Girls, whose integrity has always been apparent; for starters, they've certainly never relied on hetero male lesbian fetish to earn their fan base. On 1999's Come on Now Social, the veteran Atlanta songwriters assert themselves more strongly than they ever have, tweaking their usual folk leanings with driving rock (that's Amy Ray's punk roots at work), and country and bluegrass (Emily Saliers is the more earthy and twangy of the two). Though the two have never shied away from incorporating Sapphic themes, politics and social criticism in their music, their outspokenness is more pointed here, especially in the album's closer, "Faye Tucker," which explores issues of capital punishment, feminism, spirituality and the ethical dynamics of murder in one focused, rollicking swoop.

The Indigo Girls make a stronger, less salacious statement, but T.a.t.u. lets the mainstream know that no one's raining down on its fun parade. Either way, both express themselves rather fearlessly, and never at the expense of a good tune.--Mike Prevatt