Super
Singularly skilled in sculpting arch synth-pop, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe’s thirteenth album highlights middle age’s continued failure to blunt their edge. *Super* does allow some nostalgia—“The Pop Kids” and “Twenty-Something” are decorously detailed and gloriously autobiographical—but it’s an impressively urgent album. Masterful opener “Happiness” sounds like the pair bringing several generations of electronic imitators to heel, “Pazzo!” is a sinewy, insidious dancefloor banger, while “The Dictator Decides” and “Sad Robot World” are intelligent, somber polemics that never feel preachy.
The Pet Shop Boys have persisted long enough that their return to club music feels calmly liberated, without any grasping for pop hits. On their latest, Super, they recall their own past with trademark arch wit.
The Pet Shop Boys have persisted long enough that their return to club music feels calmly liberated, without any grasping for pop hits. On their latest, Super, they recall their own past with trademark arch wit.
Any album judged against such a magnificent back catalogue as the Pet Shop Boys' has much to live up to, and their 13th mostly stands up pretty well.
Any album judged against such a magnificent back catalogue as the Pet Shop Boys' has much to live up to, and their 13th mostly stands up pretty well.
English electronic duo Pet Shop Boys have had no problem growing with the times — or perhaps they were already ahead of their time when they...
English electronic duo Pet Shop Boys have had no problem growing with the times — or perhaps they were already ahead of their time when they...
Perhaps the nadir of The Simpsons' decline is the 19th-season episode "That '90s Show," an anachronistic flashback episode that needlessly rewrites the history of the beloved show and its titular family.
Perhaps the nadir of The Simpsons' decline is the 19th-season episode "That '90s Show," an anachronistic flashback episode that needlessly rewrites the history of the beloved show and its titular family.
From smart studies of anxious millennials to compassionate portraits of unlikable politicians, the songs on the duo’s second album with producer Stuart Price are a celebration of camaraderie through music
From smart studies of anxious millennials to compassionate portraits of unlikable politicians, the songs on the duo’s second album with producer Stuart Price are a celebration of camaraderie through music
The Gilbert & George of British pop bring familiarity and - sadly - surprises. CD new music review by Joe Muggs
The Gilbert & George of British pop bring familiarity and - sadly - surprises. CD new music review by Joe Muggs