Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

[markus]

I think Daft Punk is a very overrated group. I think Röyksopp are much better. But they're still second-rate compared to Pets. I wouldn't want a holy trinity of Pets with just those two. If I were to think of a holy trinity of electronic music, I'd definitely add New Order and Depeche Mode.
I think if N.C. Boy reached number 14, I doubt any other track would have gone much higher. And I consider YOTMYLMWYADRUNK a masterpiece. A timeless song that's practically beyond the reach of any other group. Pets in top form. I'm glad it reached the Top 10, even if it was because it came out in January.

Those of us who actually listen to Pet Shop Boys after the ’90s are a small but interesting group. I honestly don’t know why we’re so few. But I’m convinced they more or less chose to give up their imperial phase without a fight.
They could have been the poster boys for their niche within the dance scene in the 2000s, just as they were for Italo disco and synth-pop in the ’80s. Instead, they chose artistic freedom over letting the business dictate their rules.

[Gabby]

I think Daft Punk is a very overrated group....

And I consider YOTMYLMWYADRUNK a masterpiece. A timeless song that's practically beyond the reach of any other group. Pets in top form. I'm glad it reached the Top 10, even if it was because it came out in January.

Yup to DP. What a load of nonsense.

Drunk still needs to be picked up by a well known C&W act to give it the exposure it truly deserves imho. It could be a huge hit for someone from that genre.

[NOBODY75]

Well, Gabby, I'm just expressing my humble opinion.

It's a bit disrespectful to call my opinion nonsense, I think.

And I'm thinking about Depeche Mode from the '80s, obviously.
Out of curiosity, if you had to name a holy trinity of electropop, what would your other two groups be, assuming one would obviously be Pets?

I've also often thought that some Pets songs after their heyday in the hands of trendy artists could have been huge hits, but I don't understand what the initials C&W stand for. It's probably due to my level of English. If you could explain it to me, I'd appreciate it.

[TwizzleUK]

I don't understand what the initials C&W stand for. It's probably due to my level of English.

Country and Western

[Patrick Bateman]

Daft Punk were great obviously and were very clever in how they presented themselves, whether that be the anime videos, space-age helmets or working with the likes of Pharrell, Chic or The Strokes. They were 'cool' in a way that PSB certainly weren't by the late 90s/early 00s.

I think like ABBA, PSB weathered that storm and are now looked upon far more favourably and the success of Dreamworld, like Voyage, is testament to that. Ironically, for a group who used to brag about not cutting it live, it was their festival appearances from that period onwards that played a big part in their resurrection. You just can't argue with that back catalogue.

Even the inevitable ghettoisation of them as a 'gay' group which occurred at the same time has dissipated. In fact, with Nonetheless being their queerest album in many respects and the more open attitudes to different types of sexuality that now exist, it doesn't seem such a big thing these days.

[markus]

Daft Punk were great obviously and were very clever in how they presented themselves, whether that be the anime videos, space-age helmets or working with the likes of Pharrell, Chic or The Strokes. They were 'cool' in a way that PSB certainly weren't by the late 90s/early 00s.

I think like ABBA, PSB weathered that storm and are now looked upon far more favourably and the success of Dreamworld, like Voyage, is testament to that. Ironically, for a group who used to brag about not cutting it live, it was their festival appearances from that period onwards that played a big part in their resurrection. You just can't argue with that back catalogue.

Even the inevitable ghettoisation of them as a 'gay' group which occurred at the same time has dissipated. In fact, with Nonetheless being their queerest album in many respects and the more open attitudes to different types of sexuality that now exist, it doesn't seem such a big thing these days.

I think PSB did try to be cool, in their own way, with a very devil-may-care attitude to pushing gay and queer as far as possible. Maybe if they’d had AI at their disposal, a computer could have calculated the perfect strategy. Because pulling that off without losing the balance...

[Gabby]

Well, Gabby, I'm just expressing my humble opinion.

It's a bit disrespectful to call my opinion nonsense, I think.

And I'm thinking about Depeche Mode from the '80s, obviously.
Out of curiosity, if you had to name a holy trinity of electropop, what would your other two groups be, assuming one would obviously be Pets?

I've also often thought that some Pets songs after their heyday in the hands of trendy artists could have been huge hits, but I don't understand what the initials C&W stand for. It's probably due to my level of English. If you could explain it to me, I'd appreciate it.

I think you misunderstood. I was agreeing with you on Daft Punk being overrated and calling them nonsense.

As a previous poster said C&W is Country & Western. Not a genre I particularly like but Drunk covering it could be an easy win for any such artist.

[NOBODY75]

Forgive me, Gabbi. I realize now that I didn't understand you. Thank you for your explanation.
I think that, considering their career to date, and despite any mistakes they may have made, it has to be considered very good given their current status in the music world, where I believe they are considered true legends. And I don't think this is solely due to their imperial phase, but also to the entire journey they've taken since then and the variety of music they've composed. Personally, I listen to Nonetheless and think with a certain pride, because they're my band, what an achievement it is to be able to compose such wonderful songs as "New London Boy" or "A New Bohemia" after 40 years. Is the album below "Actually" or "Very"? Yes. But they're reasonably close. And I think that's very commendable. Especially considering we're comparing them to albums with a "very high score."
And like Markus, I also don't understand why more fans didn't stay with them all the way. It would be worthy of study.

[Lleonard Pler]

Looks like we should jump to 'I made my excuses and left'.

[Drico One]

Track 87: Girls and Boys (Live in Rio)

Chronology: Very, Further Listening, Track 16

Inessential filler. I have no interest in live audio recordings. Pet Shop Boys are a studio band who put on visually spectacular shows. This is best enjoyed on Discovery.

Drico.

[Drico One]

Tracks 88 and 89: Discoteca/Single

Chronology: Bilingual, Tracks 1 and 2

And so to Bilingual. The landscape has been pockmarked and rendered alien by the Britpopalypse. There's a definite sense of bewilderment, as we wander, disoriented in an unfamiliar wasteland. Neil sums up the dissonance when he asks "How can I be heard, in such a world, when I am lost?" And lost we most certainly are...

The Discoteca/Single opening act is astonishingly dark and aggressive. It's a compelling introduction - and a great example of a sum being greater than its constituent parts, because neither is single-worthy despite one getting that honour and one being seriously considered for it. Together, they represent one of the greatest album openings of all time.

The lonely, dystopian Discoteca merges into the flippant, but still emotionally fragile Single. You could make the case that the protagonist is the same in both tracks, "going out and carrying on as normal" as he jets across Europe "doing what I do to see me through". "In Brussels, Bonn, or Barcelona, I'm in demand and quite at home there" - but he's not really - he's incredibly lonely, hence the mantra like chant of "Hay una discoteca por acqui?" at the end exposing his desperate isolation. But there is no disco here - just a hellscape of TFI Friday, Shed Seven, Kula Shaker, Ocean Colour Scene, Louis Walsh, and CD:UK. They "don't speak the language"...

Bilingual is a fascinating album, but is arguably the first seriously flawed Pet Shop Boys record. It doesn't seem to know what it's about and is as lost as our protagonist in this devastating opening segue.

Drico.

[Lleonard Pler]

I've always loved Discoteca / Single but i couldn't quite put my finger on WHY I loved them. Thank you for summing it up in such an endearing way. Nothing to add, you said it all.

[Capsigrany]

Brilliant album opener and very different from whas expected from them. Dark and intense mood on Discoteca that turns into a playful spirit on Single. I still think that Bilingual is a very good album that also had top B-sides. The Big mistake was not promoting it and not having a proper world tour.

[markus]

Listening to “Discoteca” for the first time, standing at the listening booth in the CD megastore before walking away with Bilingual, I thought: that’s it, they’re over. Synth pads and drum-machine melodrama, hiding the fact that they no longer knew how to write a proper hit — a chorus that sticks.
I’d made a blood pact with Neil and Chris, promising to stay through thick and thin no matter what. “Single-Bilingual” reinforced the feeling. Back to the office. The party was over. Monday morning.

On the cover of the special edition they’d left the adventures in Rio behind. I was becoming an adult, the summer was over, I’d graduated, and I needed a job. I tried working as a telephone salesman, struggling there just like Neil in a suit in the video — and just like the song, struggling on the charts. How to cope with all awfulness?? By listening to the record...

[NOBODY75]

I like Discoteca better than Single, but I agree with Drico that neither is single material.
I also agree that this pairing is a good start for the album... Bilingual's biggest problems as an album come later