Until recently, the indie scenes of China hadn’t made a dent on the outside world. An increasing number of Chinese bands were developing in terms of musical competence and taste in influences, but in terms of writing music with a spark of originality--music outside indie fans would want to listen to more than once--little had broken through. Then, in 2006, Beijing’s SUBS made an impact on Europe with their driving, noisy sound and kinetic live show. Now, in 2007, another dark band from the capital, Rebuilding the Rights of Statues, has taken a strong stab at western ears, performing at South by Southwest and releasing an EP on L.A. imprint Tag Team Records.

ReTROS look and sound as enigmatic and alienated as their name suggests. They traffic in the danceable rhythms and staccato guitar work of their post-punk-influenced Stateside contemporaries, but they make it their own, welding a metalic figure out of pieces of Joy Division and the B-52s and bringing it to life with a nihilist Beijing electricity. (Open question: Does Beijing 2007 really feel like Berlin 1977?)

The Cut Off! EP pops out of the speakers as tight and punchy as you could want, but the real source of distinction is in the vocals. Guitarist/songwriter Hua Dong has a great voice, at times sounding like Fred Schneider at his early best—especially when bassist Liu Min plays the Cate Pierson/Cindy Wilson role in "TV Show (Hang the Police)."

But Hua is no mere mimic. In the standout "If the Monkey Becomes (to be) the King," he deploys the vocal range and theatricality of a Beijing opera star to transport the mythic Chinese monkey hero into a future (or present) controlled by soldier automatons. The song is funny and more than a little spooky— in six minutes, it says more about China’s tangle of creativity and state control than a thousand Newsweek articles.

Hua is playing freely with the past and present of his country as well as the past and present of indie music. In other words, he is a real artist, reflecting his reality in sounds that will become part of your reality. One gets the sense that ReTROS will continue to develop into something even more starkly original.

Video: "TV Show (Hang the Police)"