Pet Shop Boys – Yes

Pet Shop Boys - Yes

A lot has been made of the Pet Shop Boys working with super producers du jour Xenomania, and inviting along Johnny Marr to submit a few jingle jangles from his guitar for inclusion on Yes. Ignoring the contribution of the former Smiths and now Cribs guitarist (Wow! How the mighty has fallen… I like the Cribs but come on, that’s got to be like going from playing in the Champions League with Manchester United to appearing in front of one man and his dog for the Adam and Eve XI down at Hackney marshes) for the moment and focussing on Xenomania, now I’m not going to belittle their accomplishments in turning Girls Aloud into a formidable feminine force but they struggled to get it together with both New Order and Franz Ferdinand so I wasn’t 100% convinced they could provide the Midas touch on Yes.

Throughout their illustrious quarter of a century the Pet Shop Boys worked with Bobby Orlando during their fledgling years, Trevor Horn on Fundamental, they had Dusty Springfield contribute vocals to ‘What Have I Done to Deserve This?’ and capitalising on the MTV boom of the eighties got esteemed film director Derek Jarman to direct three of their music videos. Like all good artists they are keen collaborators and after listening to Yes I got the impression that all the mysterious Xenomania production crew really had to do was, in the Rick Rubin School of Production, remind the Pet Shop Boys just who good they once were.

I use ‘were’ because though influential the Pet Shop Boys have been unable to follow up their eighties success that saw them as chart toppers as well as artistically credible. The old joke being the Pet Shop Boys have sold 50 million records worldwide, 49 million in the eighties.

Neil Tennant remains the consummate ringmaster leading the parade, incredibly perceptive and beautifully wry. Chris Lowe meanwhile lurks understatedly in the background, hiding behind a keyboard. No thrills, no spills yet somehow the duo have written some of the most impressive songs in pop history. The highly satirical ‘Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)’ when taken in a wider context more or less summed up the entire music industry. The Pet Shop Boys were so good, as a kid for years I believed the iconic ‘Always On My Mind’ was their own composition.

‘Love etc.’ is optimistic and flighty in tone but lyrically downcast channelling that wonderful subversion that looks at the pressures of superficiality in the grim world of modern day romanticism .The song is an ideal opener for Yes that zig zags in slalom fashion, descending through the groups impressive back catalogue mountain. Sampling Tchaikovsky (the dun dun der der dun dun… dun dun der one) ‘All Over The World’ with a background “Oh-way-o-way-o” goes a bit Waco. Synthesised strings napalm the palette with rainbow aplomb. Conceptually they have created something rather regal.

The album also watches suburbia like a paranoid pensioner peaking through the curtains on tracks such as ‘Beautiful People’ and ‘Building a wall’. Tennant’s vocals are gorgeous as always, particularly on ‘King of Rome’; whilst at the same time never straying away from pop. ‘Did You See Me Coming?’ could almost certainly be tailor made for Kylie.

Then there are moments such as ‘Vulnerable’, topped with a light smatter of Spanish guitar which wistfully looks at life on the road. I guess it is the Pet Shop Boys equivalent to Bob Seger’s ‘Turn the Page’. ‘The Way it Used to Be’ looks back longingly, over memorable synths that stick to the soul like Velcro. ‘Legacy’ is an ominous ending to the record; the collaboration with Johnny Marr who provides his trademark guitar sound and oddly enough harmonica. Plainly speaking it would be a shame if their recording careers ended on such a marmite song.

You really get the impression that Yes is the sound of two guys that are in love with music again, which lets be honest was not necessarily evident in their Brit Awards megamix that featured the lovechild of Eighties Madonna and Roland Rat – Lady Gaga and that guy who wears strange dinner jackets from the Killers. Perhaps Yes is the Pet Shop Boys signing off. A thank you note to long time fans, and an invitation to the youngsters currently burying themselves in the eighties appreciation society to start here at Yes and then work all the way back to Please.

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