(Single from album, “Elysium”)
The Pet Shop Boys have been on an interesting journey through pop music since their genesis and explosion onto the UK chart scene in 1985 with the upmarket-style hip hop record, "West End Girls", complete with middle class rap, and exceptional, attitudinal Eric Watson directed music video. The synth sound wasn't exactly new, but Chris Lowe's amazing keyboards and mixing were unparalleled by any other act, and Neil Tenant's camp's, well spoken, educated and calculated lyrics truly were unique, and very special in comparison to the otherwise dull and uninspiring lyrics of the day. The albums which followed, "Please", "Actually", "Introspective", "Behaviour" and "Very", all spawned brilliant singles and equally great album tracks, with some just-as-good, if not better, singles released in between times, most notably their cover of Elvis' "Always On My Mind" securing the duo's position at Christmas No. 1, 1988.
It's understandable that with the further embracing of gay music culture in the late 80s and early 90s, and with the Ibiza club scene roaring and overtly sexual dance hits at No. 1 every week, the now openly gay Tenant and Lowe, desperate to shoehorn themselves onto the new stage, fit right in, changed their sound to contain clubbier and more sexual overtones, and in the process, lost their touch somewhat. The educatedness of the sound disappeared overnight, and as such, their success suffered greatly along with their once-unique image. The plasticity of the style didn't quite fit the act, and though they continued to produce this kind of music, by the mid-2000s, the act had virtually disappeared into club scene obscurity, producing records on an indie scale, as opposed to their top 10 standard of before...
2009's "Yes" changed everything. The Pet Shop Boys came back, and the lead single "Love Etc." saved them, shooting them back to popularity and their rightful place at the respectable end of the Top 40. The album was great, with the singles and artwork equally relieving to see and hold. When "Winner" was released earlier in July, a combination of waiting for new material and the great sleeve had me captivated, and indeed the opening buzz of blippy, morse code synths got me.
And the the S.S. PSB sunk again. Almost exactly the same thing has happened this time, only this time, I got to watch...
The sound is fine. In fact, the sound is great. The keyboards, the orchestra of electronic sound - everything. It's great, very Pet Shop Boys, and ultimately, danceable. But it's got that cringe factor that their overtly sexual work from the mid-90s had - it's retained a kind of lame quality, and the chorus of 'you're a winner, i'm a winner' just doesn't quite match the cold, and sarcastic tone of "Love Etc."'s "you need more, than the Gerhard Richter hanging on your wall". It's poppy, but bland and moronic poppy. Their glorious resurrection has turned out to be more One Direction than Pet Shop Boys, and painfully, spotting the talent here is much harder. Granted, it was written for the Olympics, but it didn't have to be appalling to fit that quota, however much of a betrayal Muse executed with "Survival"...
Ok, so at least the cringe factor isn't directly linked to the band's now (in)famous overt sexuality and style of the late 90s.
One should be so lucky.
The music video features interviews with and footage of members of a transgender roller disco team. IT'S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OLYMPICS EITHER! I am almost screaming with pain here! The in-your-face sex factor of the duo is relentless, and very unfortunate, not because of it's expression and publicising of the gay community, which I have nothing against, and very much support. It is also irrelevant whether or not the overt sexuality is heterosexual or homosexual. The point still stands that, to the fans, it feels as though the controversy that will undoubtedly surround the topic has been substituted for the duo's talent, and though this is only because the great songs and new image disappeared and surfaced at the same time, they seem, obviously, to be linked. The Pet Shop Boys should by all means promote transgender communities, but it seems like they've taken to doing this instead of producing great music, instead of doing both, as they sort of managed briefly with "Very", with damningly better tracks, greater mixes, more awesome sounds, and FAR superior artwork and packaging...mmm...packaging...
The keyboards just about kept me listening through the lame lyrics, made worse by the additional pressure to chart amongst Jessie J and Cheryl (which the duo narrowly managed - #86), but the real saving grace here was the B-side. It is worth buying this package just for "A Certain "Je ne sais quoi"" - it's a great disco song, with it's oohs, aahs, and mmms, cheeky, but not overt, in a traditional Pet Shop Boys way, with the occasional guitar chord ripping through, and giving that overall positive vibe and phenomenal dynamic that one of their records should have. Classically, as with any good B-side, it's doomed to a life of obscurity on a naff record's flip side...
★★
Versions of "Winner"
Album/Single Version - 3:48
Andrew Dawson HappyHour Remix - 4:40
Andrew Dawson Extended HappySad Remix - 8:06
John Dahlbäck Remix - 5:36
Niki & The Dove Remix - 6:06