Musically, much of this album tends toward the angsty "grrl rock" anthem, perhaps tempered a bit with a bubble-gum pop sheen. Elements of techno and electronica can be heard with a bit of harder rock around the edges.

But, to these ears at least, the overall sound is very much informed and influenced by the synth-pop glory days of New Wave. From NENA ("99 Luftballons"), to The Waitresses ("I Know What Boys Like") and even, to a certain extent, Duran Duran. It also owes a certain debt to the groundbreaking work of The Art of Noise - one of Horn's own early-80s bands.

The influence of the musical timeline, circa-1980s, is no more evident than by the inclusion of a cover version of alt-guitar Brit icons The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?", done up in slight deconstruction style with a slathering of synth-piano added to the wah-wah guitar the original became so known for. It is a passable cover of what was probably the most widely known, yet musically unsatisfying, song in The Smiths' catalog.

The CD includes the video for "All The Things She Said", which is a visual mix of voyeurism, catholic school girlism, and lesbian lip locking - all done against a rain-soaked greenish-gray "gulag" backdrop. And, damn if it's not hot! All proving that, yes, in the words of Horn's first breakthrough band - The Buggles - "video killed the radio star".

So, this is a guilty pleasure. I admit it. And it's not my fault. It's the times I live in.

If you don't like it, you can - to use words that, ironically enough, neither vocalist in t.A.T.u will probably ever have to hear - suck my d... !