Pet Shop Boys

It's hard to believe that it's been over twenty-five years ago since Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe had a monstrous hit with their coldly detached synth narrative "West End Girls." The song, allegedly inspired by T.S. Elliot, sounds even strangely relevant today when especially considering the Europop revival in full motion (in fact, London's latest buzz sensation We Have Band recently covered "…Girls" as a single). And now, on the brink of the duo's 30th anniversary together, they release the plaintively titled Yes, and in truth, not much has changed. This, however, is a good thing. The Pet Shop Boys, having both passed 50 years of age, don't want to win over new fans. They just want to please the ones they have.

Their tenth studio album begins with "Love, Etc." a life-lesson advisory on how of all the things you can accumulate in life, love is the most valuable ("you don't have to live a life of power and wealth"). With an elusive aluminum bounce, the instrumentation is paradoxical to the lyrics—this is by no means the sound of love. It sounds more like greed ("you need more," Tennant chants repeatedly). And throughout Yes, Tennant and Lowe play with this theme of lyrics versus music: "Vulnerable" is the admittance of weakness, yet the singer couldn't sound any more passive about it, while the dizzying effect of love described in "Pandemonium" actually evokes a retro-pop sweetness.

—Arye Dworken
04.22.09

Coming down from the ambitious, politically charged Fundamental, Yes is the sound of the Pet Shop Boys unwinding and returning to their usual fascinations; isolation, fashion, grand arrangements, and witty synth pop anthems. Unfortunately, they're in a slump with their songwriting, and subject-wise, every song here has a companion piece on some earlier album, but that doesn't mean the party is spoiled. The delicate electro opener "Love Etc." is PSB perfection with its memorable hook and faultless construction. Brian Higgins and his Xenomania team (Saint Etienne, Girls Aloud) share songwriting and production duties on the track, and while that later credit continues for the remainder of the album, the hip crew becomes invisible as singer Tennant and synth-man Lowe take over. Employing an Abbey Road orchestra and hiring Johnny Marr for some Hollywood guitar seems a familiar Pet Shop Boys maneuver, and when Neil Tennant tops it off with some sardonic lyrics, "Beautiful People" becomes a pleasingly comfortable gift for any fan thrown by Fundamental's action committee attitude. "Did You See Me Coming" is the exhilarated infatuation of "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Sort of Thing" all over again, while "King of Rome" is the spitting image of the duo's 1987 chestnut "King's Cross." These are good things, especially for the sworn fan, and so are the few quirky new ideas, like the duo trading lines Run-D.M.C. style on "Building a Wall." The grand closer "Legacy" is the obvious songwriting highlight, partly because of the Kurt Weill-like breakdown in the middle, but mostly because of the grim way it comforts the brokenhearted. Neil proposes that glaciers melt and stars burn out so there's a pretty good chance that given time "you'll get over it." It's much better than the "Is that a riot/or are you just glad to see me" line in "Pandemonium" and just the touch Yes needs to put this above the standard PSB album. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide