A few months ago Entertainment Weekly asked, “Who the #@! Are Tokio Hotel?” The band’s surprise Best New Artist win at last week’s MTV Video Music Awards probably had viewers in the over-25 set scratching their heads as well.

I wasn’t, since I’d been watching FNMTV, the cable net’s Friday night video premiere show (created by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz to restore the music video to its former glory). That’s how I was first exposed to Tokio Hotel, a four-piece German export, sucked into its “Monsoon” video:

Seeing that clip for the first time (and a second look later), gender confusion admittedly piqued my curiosity: Was the Tokio Hotel lead male or female? Further investigation revealed that the big-haired singer is 18-year-old Bill Kaulitz (twin brother Tom plays lead guitar).

Together since 2001 and already massive overseas where they’ve sold nearly 3 million albums, the band issued Scream, their English-language debut, in April. Based on their reception by the current MTV generation and my fondness for “Monsoon,” Tokio Hotel is riding a wave of success that is unlikely to crest soon.

And in a world where Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus usually nab the pop spotlight, these kinder are all right.

Purchase “Monsoon” via Amazon, iTunes.