by Isaiah Smith
reporter
College guys and synth pop lovers everywhere, rejoice.
The Russian faux lesbian singing duo t.A.T.u. has returned to the scene with its latest musical offering Dangerous and Moving.
Always controversial, these two buxom school girls know how to work a good angle when they find it.
And if they are really lesbians or not is beside the point as the image alone has propelled their career here in America since the duo first arrived a few years ago.
The opening title song “Dangerous and Moving (Intro)” has a mostly techno backbeat with some synth in there. But it is very short and disappointing.
I’ve heard better intros on many albums.
“ All about Us” comes across a bit repetitive and obsessive.
But if repetitive, obsessive synth pop is your thing, you’ll probably like it.
“ Cosmos (Outer Space),” track three, is definitely better than the previous track.
It has a kind of haunting quality that complements the style these Russian teens are going for.
Although some of the verses sound a little weird, the chorus makes up for the verses.
However, the whole song has the same problem with repetitiveness.
In “Loves Me Not,” a unique song, one of the lesbian Russian teens cheats on the other with a guy and then feels torn between the two relationships.
A gutsy topic with a nice backbeat, this cut definitely represents the style well.
The breakup song “Friend or Foe” holds attention, but it’s a flash in the pan.
The song is good, but it doesn’t have much replay value.
The beat seems nice at first, but it gets stale as the song goes on.
I honestly don’t quite get the point of “Gomensai.”
Something definitely gets lost in translation.
This lilting high-octave performance does not make the point of what gomensai means.
“ Craving (I Only Want What I Can’t Have)” is the high point of the whole album and should be a single.
This song succinctly defines the type of feelings people go through when they fall for the wrong person.
A good beat in the background and a perfect use of the vocal range of the teens earn my stamp of approval as a song I would actually listen to more than once.
In “Sacrifice,” the duo definitely tries to stretch its vocal range going into a high octave in the chorus of the song.
But the verses fall a little flat; some repetition problems appear, and the high notes get old as the song goes on.
“ We Shout” provides one of the best vocal performances on the CD.
It conveys a lot of emotion behind sparse but well-mixed haunting lyrics.
This track is my recommendation for a second single off this album.
But because the song stays pretty much in one pitch, it would need to find a radio audience fast before it fell flat.
“ Perfect Enemies” offers a more techno track where the music, not the vocals, stars.
The words sort of fade into the background as the beat melds it all together, but the track has some replay value.
“ Obezyanka Nol” isn’t translated from Russian but has a nice sound to it.
But to non-Russian speaking people, the song is pointless because, obviously, we don’t understand it.
However, that said, the track would make a good choice for a single because of the recent popularity of non-English songs on the radio, and it might be a good attention-getting track for the album.
The title track “Dangerous and Moving” has the same music as the intro and is fine for a dance track. However, the track doesn’t have much weight beyond that.
Overall, the album is very repetitive with half the songs hard to tell apart.
Conversely, the other half of the album is decent and might have some replay value.
Dangerous and Moving is a definite must have if synth pop is your fave genre because it’s typical in most of its execution.
This album is not likely to be a classic, but everyone needs fluff songs for parties so the music won’t overpower the conversation.
I’d give this CD two stars out of five.
I personally would not buy this album, but I can see why other people might find it appealing and enjoyable.
The album was released Oct. 10 in the United Kingdom and Nov. 10 in the United States.