Nightlife In Tokyo

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Queen of Japan's 'Nightlife in Tokyo' takes an after-hours trip into the beer-sticky, smoke-stained world of warehouse discotheques, upscale karaoke bars and downtown sex shows. It is a sultry collection of covers dolled up in '80s disco-elektro, getting down and nasty with classics like Kiss' 'I Was Made For Loving You', Olivia Newton-John's 'Physical' and Soft Cell's 'Seedy Films'.

This Japanese trio is at its most potent when it adds a touch of chaos to the eroticism. On The Who's 'Acid Queen' they remove the classic rock of the original and fuel it with dancefloor sweat and ecstasy, raining down confetti of sparkling synth in the track's introduction. Queen's 'Get Down Make Love' has an sleek, ominous purr to it, recalling Nitzer Ebb circa 'Ebbhead'; when leader singer Koneko seductively calls out the title of the song, it's an ultimatum.

The surprise track on the CD is the band's interpretation of Klaus Nomi's 'Total Eclipse'. While Queen of Japan mimics Nomi's operatic vocals, the pace is more frenetic, building into something that sounds more like an alien voice describing an upcoming holocaust matter-of-factly rather than the tongue-in-cheek irony that suffuses the original. The track subverts the sexual aggression and playful teasing of the rest of 'Nightlife in Tokyo', even if it does end with a giggle from Koneko. 'Total Eclipse' is the shock of daylight that streams into a room after an evening of partying - the hangover that, hours earlier, you knew you would get but which didn't stop you from downing those Cosmopolitans. Queen of Japan might be all about excess, but they also realize that electronic and chemical abundance comes with a price.