Kids On TV: Mixing Business With Pleasure

It’s hard to really follow in the footsteps of the Scissor Sisters, but Toronto-based dance trio Kids on TV attempt just that with Mixing Business with Pleasure, their largely forgettable debut album. Their basic-level beats sound like BT with a lobotomy. The songs have hooks, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the songs are catchy. This wouldn’t be a problem if not for the group’s perverse sense of humor. The album is aimed directly at a gay audience, making countless references to blowjobs and sex acts (including a detailed list of the “Hanky Code”). Yet the Scissor Sisters get away with the same trick by not only making their songs accessible for mass consumption, they do so with a sly wink to their crowd — a playful come-hither glance in its own right. Kids On TV shut themselves off with a horribly introverted lyricism that gives the vibe of “not gay — go away”. This evidence is furthered by a pointless Boy George cameo and a cover of the Jermaine Stewart abstinence-practicing classic “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off” that shoots for irony but comes off more annoying than anything else. The reason why Stewart’s song was a hit was not just because of its all-ages non-partisan message, but because it unabashedly copped from a far better song: Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know”. The day when Kids On TV follows the lessons of those before them, they might create something for everyone. Until then, there are plenty of other clubs in town — and none of them will be playing this mixed Business.