 |
Of all the pretentious, big-haired New Wave bands of the '80s, the Pet Shop Boys have held up the best. For three days in June the duo will bring their aren"t-we-droll songs and new album Nightlife to two of the Kanto area"s newest and shiniest performance spaces. Formed in 1981, the Pet Shop Boys were the brainchild of vocalist Neil Tennant, a journalist for UK pop rag Smash Hits, and former cabaret singer Chris Lowe. Signed to Parlophone Records, the pair"s recipe of dance beats, sexually neutered irony, and despair hidden behind a shiny, smiling facade was very much in evidence on their breakthrough 1985 smash single "West End Girls." Their debut 1986 album, Please, made it clear that, appearances to the contrary, the PSBs were more than a flash in the pan. The album spawned a series of hits including "Love Comes Quickly" and "Opportunities (Let"s Make Lots of Money)." In 1987, the duo were back on top with a cover of the Elvis Presley hit "Always On My Mind." A series of albums in the late '80s and '90s affirmed the Pet Shop Boys" place in the pop firmament, including Actually (1987), Behavior (1990), Very (1993) and Bilingual (1996). With last November"s Nightlife, the PSBs stated their refusal to be consigned to the dustbin of pop history. The album drops plenty of bombs, with, as always, Tennant"s frail voice framed by an orchestral wall of glistening strings, throbbing bass and synthesizer flourishes. The single "New York City Boy" is a camp tribute to '70s disco group the Village People, and reminds us of the importance of gay culture in the development of dance culture. It
will be curious to see what kind of show the Pet Shop Boys put on
in their first Japan tour in nine years, as their incorporation
of stage dancers, film and other theatrical elements should take
full advantage of the huge stages for which they have been scheduled. |
