{"id":4687,"date":"2016-04-29T14:01:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T18:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=4687"},"modified":"2016-05-11T11:19:25","modified_gmt":"2016-05-11T15:19:25","slug":"pet-shop-boys-super","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/pet-shop-boys-super\/","title":{"rendered":"Pet Shop Boys
Super"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pet<\/a>Of all the groups that emerged in the \u201980s, the Pet Shop Boys have always maintained a timeless quality\u2014this despite the fact that their chosen genre, synth-pop, seems to instantly date their contemporaries. Part of the reason could be singer Neil Tennant\u2019s sharply written lyrics, or it could be because they\u2019ve managed to tweak their sound over the years without losing sight of who they are. Then again, it could also be because popular music seems to keep swinging back to the sounds of the \u201980s. It\u2019s not that difficult to imagine a number of contemporary bands having at least a couple Pet Shop Boys records loaded on their iPods.<\/p>\n

The Pet Shop Boys have never existed as a nostalgia act, maintaining a near constant presence. So it\u2019s no surprise that 30 years after the release of their debut album, Please<\/i>, the band is on its 13th studio album, Super<\/i> (X2 Records). Like past records it has a one-word title and maintains Chris Lowe as the primary musical force, with Tennant contributing some additional keyboard work. It is also the second part of a proposed trilogy with producer Stuart Price. Price is better known to club heads as Jacques Lu Cont or Les Rythmes Digitales and to the pop world as the producer for Madonna\u2019s Confessions on the Dancefloor<\/i>. He is credited for steering the Pet Shop Boys towards making a straight-up dance record with their previous effort, Electric<\/i>. The result was a critically acclaimed album that gave the group their highest chart placing in years.<\/p>\n

Super<\/i> strikes a balance between yesterday and today. Dance and electronic music is an ever-changing animal and trying to grab on to current sounds means that you may sound outdated by the time the record is released. But if you\u2019re going to make a record for the club, it\u2019s understandable that you\u2019ll want to at least make a nod to what\u2019s popular. To that end, Super<\/i> features a lot of sounds that wouldn\u2019t sound out of place coming from the main stage of the Electric Daisy Carnival. Songs like \u201cInner Sanctum\u201d have legitimate breakdowns and hint at \u201cdrops.\u201d But the duo isn\u2019t trying to substitute a bass thump for songwriting. The classically structured \u201cThe Pop Kids\u201d slides in a character-driven narrative about a couple that moved to the big city to pursuit their love of pop music and clubbing. It\u2019s similar in structure and delivery to something like \u201cWhat Have I Done To Deserve This?\u201d in that it\u2019s like a short story set to music.<\/p>\n

The album may not have enough straight-up pop hooks for some, and one could argue that Super<\/i> doesn\u2019t stray too far from the club sounds of its predecessor. Lowe wrangles sweeping synths, thumping bass, and a variety of styles ranging from house to hi-NRG. Meanwhile, there are moments like on \u201cBurn,\u201d where Tennant comes in so relatively late he seems like a featured guest. Nonetheless, his deadpan vocals resonate as strong as ever no matter where they fall. Though the Pet Shop Boys can never escape their past, Super<\/i> is clearly the sound of a band looking forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Of all the groups that emerged in the \u201980s, the Pet Shop Boys have always maintained a timeless quality\u2014this despite the fact that their chosen genre<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[34,1706,1707],"class_list":["post-4687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-review","tag-pet-shop-boys","tag-x2-records"],"yoast_head":"\nPet Shop Boys Super - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/pet-shop-boys-super\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pet Shop Boys Super - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Of all the groups that emerged in the \u201980s, the Pet Shop Boys have always maintained a timeless quality\u2014this despite the fact that their chosen genre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/pet-shop-boys-super\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-29T18:01:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-05-11T15:19:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/pet_shop_boys-super.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dorian S. 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