Miss TK and the Revenge
XOXO
Gern Blandsten
According to her press release, Miss TK used to play keyboards in the Jade Tree Records’ band Zero Zero, but listening to her pouty, slightly nasal vocals on XOXO, I’d have thought she made her living impersonating British girls, or maybe Cyndi Lauper. The latter seems a little more accurate, since Miss TK hails from Jersey… Either way she’s got a perfect voice for the processed sheen of her band’s neon-hued new wave. Like a soundtrack to an ’80s elementary school slumber party, the album serves up rainbows, unicorns and pervasive pink themes of tween culture past. There’s hardly a dark corner for pathos or angst to fester; only the one-minute emo drill “Nowhere to Go” brings a tinge of sour to the mixture. Almost everything else has “potential mixtape favorite” written on it, with the propulsive post-disco of “Your Show,” the whirring calisthenics of “Hey Baby” and the exquisite dance floor celebration “Sunshine, Sunshine, Where Are You?” coming off best. XOXO is nostalgic for youth without being sentimental and retro without being derivative. The fact that it manages those things while still existing as superficial and purely brainless fun is an interesting and remarkable feat. More please.
Gern Blandsten: http://www.gerdblandsten.com
