January 05, 2005

Miss TK & The Revenge "XOXO"

This is a fun record! One can only love Miss TK and The Revenge’s debut album, XOXO in the same way that one loved the best moments of The Waitresses and The Go-Go’s. We’re not talking about Stockhausen music theory here; we’re talking about music that’s simply enjoyable because it’s great music to listen to. Much like those elder statesmen of new wave pop, Miss TK is simply pop music that’s indebted to the sounds of today’s hip music scene. Yet I’m torn. XOXO is smart in a way, it’s dumb in a way, and it’s kind of hard to reconcile that.

On one hand, the music is typical new-wave inspired indie-rock. You’ve got driving guitars, tempered with some really great groove-minded bass lines and some killer synth beats, all topped off with a sweet yet sassy little girl-sounding lead singer, who writes songs that are about love and boredom and love and life and having fun and love and heartbreak and about love. Miss TK is a sassy combination of Debbie Harry and Belinda Carlisle, giving the music a nice retro-sounding style.

On the other hand, the music is typical new-wave inspired indie-rock. You’ve got driving guitars, tempered with some really great groove-minded bass lines and some killer synth beats, all topped off with a sweet yet sassy little girl-sounding lead singer, who writes songs that are about love and boredom and love and life and having fun and love and heartbreak and about love. Miss TK is a sassy combination of Debbie Harry and Belinda Carlisle, giving the music a nice retro-sounding style.

Sometimes you need not examine something so critically and just accept it and love what you hear and how it makes you feel. Miss TK is obviously a girl in the world, a girl who just wants to have fun, and who can blame her? Songs like “Elevator” and “Hey Baby, Yeah!” make a case for me to simply say, “Girl, keep on, keepin’ on,” whilst I turn up the stereo. You should enjoy XOXO’s prickly, perky and hyper pop music in lieu of caffeine.

--Joseph Kyle

Aritst Website: http://www.misstk.com
Label Website: http://www.gernblandsten.com

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