by Stewart Mason
Following a small handful of 12" singles over the last several years, Austrian electronica duo Voom:Voom finally make their full-length debut with Peng Peng. As any good Stereolab fan knows, Peng is German for "bang," but Christian Prommer and Roland Appel (with occasional writing and production assistance from Peter Kruder of Kruder & Dorfmeister) are less interested in explosions than slowly smoldering coals that threaten to explode into full-on flames but never quite do. This is minimal techno at its most stylishly restrained: beats and melodic elements are introduced, percolate for five to eight minutes, then graciously withdraw. Pleasant but not earth-shattering, Peng Peng is tailor-made for certain hipster dance rooms, but lacks spark outside of that context.