Pet Shop Boys - Super
by Aaron Brown
published: 30 / 5 / 2016
Label:
X2 Recordings
Format: CD
intro
Fabulous dance-influenced thirteenth album from electro giants the Pet Shop Boys, which has been produced by Stuart Price of Les Rythmes Digitales
Ian McCulloch on the release of the Bunnymen’s opus, ‘Ocean Rain’, said it was the greatest album ever made. Great it definitely is, but as with any bold statement many disagreed with ‘Mac the Mouth’ at the time. Is the Pet Shop Boys calling their new album, ‘Super’ a bold narcissistic statement or just the usual camp fun from the East-End boys? The Pet Shop Boys’ ‘Super’ is excellent. It sounds fresh, very house and very contemporary for a band on their thirteenth album. The second of three albums dance stalwart Stuart Price (Les Rythmes Digitales) has planned to produce with the Pet Shop Boys, you can feel his stamp all over it. It is a Pet Shop Boys album but you can feel that Les Rythmes Digitales has given them a few pointers on how they should sound in the 21st century. ‘The Pop Kids’, is pure Pet Shop Boys painting by numbers pop, brash and unashamedly fun with Neil Tennant crooning “They called us the Pop Kids ’cause we loved the pop hits and quoted the best bits.” Stand-out track ‘Inner Sanctum’ on the other hand sounds more akin to the ambience of Faithless while ‘Pazzo’ is reminiscent of an early Daft Punk before they went Hollywood. This album may divide synth purists who like their music stuck in the 80s. This isn’t Dylan goes electric. It is just a very good album from a band that inspired a generation of dance artists. You should love this album because it is, dare I say it, a super album.
Track Listing:-
1 Happiness2 The Pop Kids
3 Twenty-something
4 Groovy
5 The Dictator Decides
6 Pazzo!
7 Inner Sanctum
8 Undertow
9 Sad Robot World
10 Say It to Me
11 Burn
12 Into Thin Air
Band Links:-
http://petshopboys.co.uk/https://www.facebook.com/petshopboys
https://twitter.com/petshopboys
https://www.youtube.com/petshopboys
https://plus.google.com/117889052168255239522
http://www.songkick.com/artists/550013-pet-shop-boys
live reviews |
|
Henley Festival, Henley, Oxfordshire, 6/7/2017 |
|
| Nick Dent-Robinson asserts that 1980's icons Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have as the Pet Shop Boys, 'constantly pushed the boundaries' since their inception. He enjoys two dynamic sets of synth pop at the prestigious Henley Festival. |
soundcloud
reviews |
|
Yes (2009) |
|
| Outstanding tenth album from the Pet Shop Boys, which finds them working with both the Girls Aloud production team, Xenomania, and also former Smith guitarist, Johnny Marr |
| Love etc (2009) |
| Disco 4 (2007) |
| Fundamental (2006) |
| I'm With Stupid (2006) |
most viewed articles
current edition
Peter Doherty - Blackheath Halls, Blackheath and Palace Halls, Watford, 18/3/2025 and 21/3/2025Yardbirds - Interview with Jim McCarty
Johnny Cash - Video Vault
Max Bianco and the BlueHearts - Troubadour, London, 29/3/2025
John Philip Shenale - Interview
Deb Googe and Cara Tivey - Interview
Armory Show - Interview with Richard Jobson
Loft - Interview
Man From Delmonte - Interview
Vapors - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Bryan Ferry and Amelia Barrett - Loose TalkIvor Game - When Will You Fall Into My Loving Arms?
Gabriel Moreno - Nights in the Belly of Bohemia
Doris Brendel and Lee Dunham - Big Blue Sky
Brooke Combe - Dancing at the Edge of the World
Bryan Adams - Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2024
Shaw's Trailer Park - I Thought I Saw You
Ringo Starr - Look Up
FKA twigs - Eusexua
Leon Bridges - Leon
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart