They’re reborn, revitalised, and really rather good... Pet Shop Boys - Electric Ballet scores and mid-paced meditations on life seemed to mark the mutation of the Pet Shop Boys into elder statesmen of pop, no longer troubled by the need to sustain the tempo – in both senses – of the contemporary hit parade. And yet, something clearly didn’t sit right with Tennant and Lowe, resulting in their most energetic and relentlessly hands-in-the-air music in 20 years. While familiar musical tropes abound, this is not that last vestige of the desperate fame-hunter: limp re-treads of what has gone before. Instead, the twisted disco and warped pop that underpin everything great about ‘Electric’ are a clear sign that the duo is far from done. The addition of Stuart Price on production proves a masterstroke, and ‘Love Is A Bourgeois Construct’ alone is enough to render all existing PSB Greatest Hits albums incomplete. Dramatic strings, dubby basslines and a quick burst of male voice choir seem a perfectly logical backdrop for one of Neil’s finest lyrics of the album: the track’s a 21st century disco break-up smash. By the time it shreds itself in the final minute, it’s hard to believe the duo had ever seemed a little tired. They’re reborn, revitalised, and really rather good. 8/10 Words: Gareth James clashmusic/reviews/pet-shop-boys-electric
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 21:58:11 +0000
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