By Mita Tate

What’s better than tongue-in-cheek cutesy electro with trademark deadpan vocals that would make Miss Kittin seem like James Earl Jones? While just about every genre of music surpasses electroclash, for three girls from NYC, Vivienne Westwood, sexual innuendos and an unhealthy obsession for vintage Casio beats, it was the only way of life. W.I.T. earned a name for themselves by touring with everyone from sleazequeen Peaches to political pseudo-electro goddesses Chicks On Speed and Le Tigre. In 2003, they released the full-length “Whatever It Takes.”

“Ooh I Like It” conjures up images of Paris Hilton’s lanky body dancing around aimlessly in a circle while her one lazy eye tries to focus on the hottest guy in the club. While it most likely isn’t modeled after everyone’s favorite heiress, it does somehow resemble Mu’s recnt hit “Paris Hilton” with not only nonsensical lyrics, but synth-lines that only a vintage casiotone could produce. The last minute of “Ooh I Like It” is where the genius comes in as singer Melissa Burns just repeats “ooh / ahh /uh huh / oh / ah / I like it.”

The next song “Hold Me, Touch Me” actually manages to stray from the kitsch factor despite sharing it’s name with a KISS song. Sounding like a genuine song you’d hear at Avalon on a Sunday night, This is what would happen if Ladytron collaborated with Stacey Q on a KTU Freestyle tribute to Kylie Minogue.

The girls end Whatever It Takes with the synthpop ballad “Inside Out.” To most casual listeners, this appears to be nothing more than a melancholy way to end a fun album, but to any seasoned listener of cheesy music, “Inside Out” will sound nearly identical to Chris & Cosey’s “October Love Song.” While “Inside Out” is probably the best track on the album, with the exception of Genesis P-Orridge performing the original while dousing himself in KY Jelly, nothing beats the former Throbbing Gristle duo’s original.

While “electropop” officially died back in 1982, and it’s newly named “electroclash” resurrgence from 2001-2003 was nothing more than an “ironic” spoof to confuse real music fans across the globe, apparently W.I.T. didn’t get the memo and for them, the music they created was probably the most genuine recapture of a decade long gone.