Let me explain: Everybody loves ABBA when they're six years old. It's a universal phenomenon and, what's more, it's a totally natural and wonderful thing. ABBA, along with the Beatles and Mr. Brian Wilson, are responsible for crafting the most scientifically perfect pop songs in existence and early exposure to their verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-chorus pop framework is invaluable for developing an ear for pop music.

The next stage in the development of musical appreciation is crucial: your older brother or sister is supposed to find you jammin' out to "Mamma Mia" and give you a hard but righteous smack in the head. Then, they rip the copy of ABBA Gold out of you hands and replace it with The Clash's London Calling.

Should an ABBA appreciation go unchecked it exacerbates into a Celine Dion, Britney Spears, and (when one is feeling excessively funky) a Black Eyes Peas appreciation. Eventually, what you are left with is a whole nation of people -- 8 gajillion people -- who think that attending a Brian Gibb concert is a pretty rad idea and singing Backstreet Boys at KTV radder still.

The Re-Tros are three Bejingers with older siblings. Or, at least, they have had people who have performed services for them as such. Through the hands of Beijing three-piece Re-TROS (short for the arty moniker, "Rebuilding the Rights of Statues") have passed the seminal albums of Television, Bauhaus and the Pixies. Singer/guitarist, Hua Dong, has listened closely to the staccato, wrenching guitar of Gang of Four and the wavering, guttural vocal work of Gordan Gano and Nick Cave. Bassist, Liu Min, has taken in the subtleness and centrality of the bass lines in Joy Division and drummer, Ma Hui, has been listening to what sounds like the off-kilter, dance rock beats of early Modest Mouse.

Formed in 2003, the three-piece were recently in town at 4 Live in support of their first album Cut Off!, which was released in November 2005. The crowd was a mix of diehard Chinese fans, Western students, and aging Western hipsters. Of course the nihilistic and bleak style of the Re-TROS doesn't inspire warm, friendly feelings, but the crowd seemed excessively glum, divided and unenergized -- just like the art-rock shows back home! Towards the end of their set the band was just too good not to get excited about and they managed to earn a second encore from a fashionable crowd that seemed somewhat under-populated for a band that has toured with national heroes, Subs and The (International) Noise Conspiracy.

The album itself, although a little too slick in the production department (what's with the rain effect on "If the Monkey Becomes (to be) the King"?), is a faithful recreation of the gritty but ethereal sound of the live show. Although only six songs long, Cut Off! stands on its own as proof that new, cutting-edge music on par with what is being done internationally is possible in China. Each of the six songs is brilliantly crafted and constructed according to a Bauhaus-type cinematic framework; the songs ebb, flow and repeat, before climaxing in intensity and passion (as in "A Death Bed Song" and "TV Show (Hang the Police)"). The vocal playoff between lead vocalist Hua Dong and female backing vocalist Liu Min recalls the Pixies at their most experimental, when Kim Deal would sustain an airy mono-note background against Frank Black's talking/singing/yelping/screaming.

Oh yeah. And Brian Eno is playing keyboards on the album. Yeah. Brian Eno. In the humble words of Hua Dong, "he wanted something exciting and there we were." In short, this album is hot hot hot and would be most welcome by fans of Blond Redhead and Hot Snakes.