Chicks on Speed's full-length debut Will Save Us All! expands on the cyber-grrrl style the Munich trio forged on their early singles. As with many art school bands, with
Chicks on Speed the style is the substance: even if the group's fusion of avant-garde ambitions and synth-pop seems paper-thin, it still has an exciting surface. But songs like the dance-pop anti-anthem "Glamour Girl" and the hipster putdown "Yes I Do!" condemn their fashion-victim status through their very blankness -- they call attention to the emptiness behind the surface and make it the focal point. The Chicks' punky, feminist undercurrents stand out in the disturbing spoken word piece "Little Star," which recalls the work of
Miranda July and
Julie Ruin; "The Floating Pyramid Over Frankfurt That the Taxi Driver Saw When He Was Landing" is reminiscent of the Raincoats' and
the Slits' most explosive, political moments. And though harder-edged songs like "For All the Boys in the World" and "Procrastinator" may not be mistaken for
Atari Teenage Riot anytime soon, they do display the Chicks' increasingly diverse original songs. This is an important point, as many of the group's singles -- and nearly half of Will Save Us All! -- are covers. In this context, however, the group's reworkings of
the Normal's "Warm Leatherette" and the B-52's "Give Me Back My Man" come across as shout-outs to the band's inspirations. The covers also allow the group to play with their sonic identity: On their cover of Malaria!'s "Kaltes Klares Wasser," the trio sounds like a coven of digital witches, while their version of
Delta 5's "Mind Your Own Business" is sleekly, chicly robotic. Interestingly,
Chicks on Speed's version of
Cracker's "Euro Trash Girl" is one of their most distinctive and unique songs, blending their blasé cool with
David Lowery's wry, rambling lyrics. Subversive, sexy, and occasionally scary,
Chicks on Speed may not be ready to save us all yet, but this album proves they're on their way. ~ Heather Phares