CD Reviews

T.A.T.U.

DANGEROUS AND MOVING | Interscope

By MICHAEL FREEDBURG | February 2, 2006

3.5 Stars

T.A.T.U. Gusto, even without a translator.

The second CD from this uncloseted teenage Russian duo has more songs that work than their 2002 debut and — unlike 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane (Interscope) — hardly any that don’t. The first album featured “All the Things That She Said,” as infectious a girl-group song as anyone has made in the past 25 years. This CD, however, offers many more such. “All About Us,” “Friend or Foe,” “Craving (I Only Want What I Can’t Have),” “Perfect Enemy,” and the cocky, cool title track all shoot straight to the gut — and to the heart. These gals finally know why they’re here and what they’re about: not to pretend at lesbianism but to push the edges any way they can. It helps that they sing with obvious relish but never to excess. They still owe much to the recent work of Mylene Farmer, particularly her songwriting for Corsican teen-queen Alizee, but the borrowings aren’t as crude as on 200 km/h, and they’re more fully woven into t.A.T.u.’s own sound. They also sing in Russian. But even without a translator, the mid-tempo ballads “Obezyanka Noi” and “Gomenasal” convey an obvious joy and gusto.