Hey! The Veronicas kissed a girl, too!

‘ ‘ ‘ The Veronicas has quite the repute to sustain. Its debut album, The Secret Life… ‘ ‘ ‘ The Veronicas has quite the repute to sustain. Its debut album, The Secret Life Of’hellip;, released in 2005, rose to No. 2 on the Australian charts and was certified four times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association. And after listening to its sophomore release, it is no wonder why. The power-pop duo, 23-year-old identical twin sisters Lisa and Jessica Origliasso from Brisbane, Australia, sound a little like the Pussycat Dolls, but in a supercharged dance party kind of way. The girls’ voices are young and fresh, and though the songs’ electronic beats are definitely commanding, they do not squelch the vocals. Unlike other pop groups of its status, The Veronicas ‘mdash; its name comes from Veronica Lodge, the Archie Comics character ‘mdash; actually co-write most of its tunes and play guitar. A hit pop album like this, though, isn’t made without a little help from some big guns. That’s why The Veronicas collaborated with songwriter Shelly Peiken, famous for her work with Christina Aguilera, John Feldmann, who’s written for The Used and Good Charlotte, and Billy Steinberg, responsible for writing Madonna’s classic ‘Like a Virgin.’ Most of the jams, though, were the work of the girls’ long-time friend and colleague Toby Gad, most well known for Fergie’s ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry.’ ‘This Is How It Feels’ shows off the twins’ voices ‘mdash; both sharp, striking tenors that resemble a mixture of M2M (remember them?) and Mandy Moore. There is no melancholy or raspy sound here ‘mdash; these girls are sopranos for sure and tend to sing about bubble gum issues like meeting boys and partying hard.’ Not to be outdone by Katy Perry, the promiscuous ‘Take Me On The Floor’ has a good deal of girl-girl references. The twins sing: ‘I wanna kiss a girl / I wanna kiss a girl / I wanna kiss a boy / I wanna ‘hellip;’ and retort with ‘Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?’ There’s not much substance to the lyrics, but it’s still a danceable beat. Aside from serving as background music to the YAZ birth control pill television advertisement, ‘Don’t Say Goodbye’ is actually a catchy little concluding ditty full of upbeat verses and more emphasis on the vocals than the rest of the tunes. But not all of the tracks are so enjoyable. Both ‘This Love’ and ‘Popular’ produce an automatic gag reflex. They are the only major bombs on the album, but can easily be overlooked when viewing the record as a whole. Though Hook Me Up doesn’t quite make it on the ‘best lyrics of all time’ chart, it will draw crowds if it tops the playlist of your next major dance party. All songs are around three minutes long ‘mdash; the standard attention-grabbing time amount, and though the album’s obvious genre is dance, the twins mix up the rhythms with each song and even include a few lower key ballads like ‘I Don’t Want To Wait’ and ‘Someone Wake Me Up’. It’s undeniable that Hook Me Up was a collaborative effort seriously helped by major music industry buffs. Regardless, The Veronicas have definitely got a good start in the States and, with any luck, will keep making music.