Feel the energy4 Out Of 5 Stars
Showing nothing if not incredible resilience, Pet Shop Boys continue their third decade with "Electric," an album pointed directly at arty dance floors. Coming of the mostly down-tempo chill of "Elysium," "Electric" should thrill old fans who weren't quite sure what to make of the more introspective point of view on that particular disc. Forget that for now. Spinning with the electronic chill of producer Stuart Price (who helped Madonna mine this same field) and the always dry wit of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, they just keep the beat pumping and toss in reminders of past glories and all-night parties to come.
So when you hear reminders of earlier songs in the likes of "Love Is A Bourgeois Construct" while Tennant sardonically tells an ex that he's "Talking tough and feeling bitter," you know that the Boys are feeling old juices flowing. Even more so, there isn't a slow-down number here. This could almost be mistaken for one of the "Disco" series of albums in that the pace never lets up. I do miss that moment of reflection that many other Pet Shop Boys albums would sneak in, like "Happiness is an Option" (from "Nightlife") or "To Speak is a Sin" (from "Very"), which always felt like a moment of deeper thought slipped in between the moments of ecstatic dancing.
Where "Electric" makes up for that in a stunning manner is the album's cover song, "The Last To Die." Maybe back in the "Born In The USA" days, when Springsteen's singles were remodeled into dance mixes would this seem possible, but The Pet Shop Boys take a protest song about the Irag/Afghanistan wars and whip it up as a dance anthem. It is the most subversive thing on the entire album and proof that Neil and Chris have not forsaken the brilliant irony that made classic albums like "Very," "Actually" and "Behavior" (to this day, "Being Boring" can bring a tear) on an album that all but dares you to get on your feet.
"Electric" is something of a triumph. It became the Pet Shop Boys' highest American charting album in nearly twenty years (hitting #26, with "Very" coming in at #20, and their last album, "Elysium" peaking at #44), and only three other albums charting higher in their whole discography. They've never really gone away, but when you get hit with the line in "Vocal," exuberantly proclaiming "everything about tonight feels right and so young," it's enough to make you glad that they've stuck to their guns for so long.
No comments:
Post a Comment