Pet Shop Boys Community

Greetings,

That's the way lads, get it out of your system so you don't foul up your albums with this sort of thing.

Retro.

richwill wrote: Fri 18 Sep 2026, 7:52 pm

Sammy Jenkis wrote: Fri 18 Sep 2026, 5:31 pm Seems to me quite in keeping with the vibe of Agenda which I personally enjoy. On the topic of should N&C address the Gaza devastation and probable genocide, were there calls for them to address the 1970s Kibbutz movement when they wrote My October Symphony or The Oslo Accords when they recorded Go West? I think any pop-band with the gumption to tackle one autocrat should be celebrated, not castigated for failing to be some form of synthpop UN Security Council. There's been plenty of chatter this week about musicians attempting to be apolitical.

You absolutely have not grasped the scale of the Gazan genocide, to the extent that your post makes you appear to be some sort of psychopath.

Palestinian lives *matter*.

It is quite possible that I have not grasped the scale of the Gazan genocide because the slaughter of approximately 50,000 people and the forced displacement of around 1,500,000 Gazans is a colossal sum of human misery and suffering. I think it would be insulting to that vast suffering if I who am so far removed from it would claim to fully understand it. Palestinian lives do matter.

It is definitely B side or EP giveaway territory, and unusually direct and blunt. But then their political songs can be direct rather than layered like an onion. Stonking bassline; but the dichotomy between the serious subject matter and it's absurdist, comedic presentation is iron fist wrapped in velvet glove territory. So much more hard hitting that doing it seriously and pompously, I'm talking about you The Jam. The release date is clearly no coincidence. Didn't they say their next album would be a return to the political Fundamental style somewhere or have I conflated that with A Man From The Future, which has more subtle political undertones regarding Turing's treatment?

canveyboy wrote: Fri 18 Sep 2026, 7:34 pm
Yeah..why does it matter that it’s not subtle? What’s wrong with being direct? Jeez..some ppl need to cheer up.. it’s just a funny little dig, mocking the absolute bell end that is Putin..in what is literally just a free online demo!! It’s not meant to be deep

It's lazy songwriting. Compare it with something like Don Juan, also about a dictator, where the lyric intrigues you rather than bores you. It’s a shame they have littered their later career with facile political sloganeering.

DopeFiend wrote: Fri 18 Sep 2026, 4:16 pm The word "shit" in a PSB song, that makes a first.

“Call me old fashioned”

Don’t know what’s funnier; the song or the comments

But credit to @tottenhammattspurs for:

“Came for the snare rolls, did not disappoint”

When I saw the title I thought it was a new track from a revised production of My beautiful laundrette.

About as subtle as a flying kick to an elephant scrotum whilst it has its foot on the nuclear button.

File under: yet another song about an enemy the mainstream media has been banging on about for years and which is a safe non-career tarnishing subject.

Live-streamed genocide in Gaza with US and UK support - going there are we Boys?

Frankly embarrassing. I'd rather a song about passport control in Berlin.

Patrick Bateman wrote: Fri 18 Sep 2026, 11:02 pmIt's lazy songwriting. Compare it with something like Don Juan, also about a dictator, where the lyric intrigues you rather than bores you. It’s a shame they have littered their later career with facile political sloganeering.

It’s not lazy songwriting, it’s just songwriting you don’t like. Don Juan is of course a masterpiece, and they still do that kind of thing. But this is more in line with someone like Vonnegut, who would be right at home writing about the guy who did Hitler’s washing.

Some of you are whiny little bitches and it really shows.

Love the directness. And the cheek of it all.

Unsurprisingly that it’s upset the Pet Shop Bots.

NotInvisible wrote: Sat 19 Sep 2026, 12:36 am

Patrick Bateman wrote: Fri 18 Sep 2026, 11:02 pmIt's lazy songwriting. Compare it with something like Don Juan, also about a dictator, where the lyric intrigues you rather than bores you. It’s a shame they have littered their later career with facile political sloganeering.

It’s not lazy songwriting, it’s just songwriting you don’t like. Don Juan is of course a masterpiece, and they still do that kind of thing. But this is more in line with someone like Vonnegut, who would be right at home writing about the guy who did Hitler’s washing.

Some of you are whiny little bitches and it really shows.

Only some of us?

Maybe Naked was about the fanbase.

I quite like it. As Wayne astutely states, there's some depth here to the satire. Sure, the Boys can knock this out in their sleep but it's far from the worst thing they've ever done as some comments suggest.

dbaseboy wrote: Fri 18 Sep 2026, 11:04 pm

DopeFiend wrote: Fri 18 Sep 2026, 4:16 pm The word "shit" in a PSB song, that makes a first.

“Call me old fashioned”

Oh yeah! How could I forget.

Patrick Bateman wrote: Fri 18 Sep 2026, 7:03 pm

NotInvisible wrote: Fri 18 Sep 2026, 4:45 pm
Imagine having a problem with a song mocking Putin.

Not much of a song though, is it? About as subtle as a sledgehammer.

Agree. It sounds like a poem sung in an improvised adlib.
There's no tune or chorus.

Gabby wrote: Sat 19 Sep 2026, 9:15 am I quite like it. As Wayne astutely states, there's some depth here to the satire. Sure, the Boys can knock this out in their sleep but it's far from the worst thing they've ever done as some comments suggest.

Geowayne? I just checked his site, interestingly he points out this song was referenced in 2022 as 'Putin's Underpants'. "It's just a rough demo so far, we're still working on it. It's about Putin in his underpants, about his secrets, but also about the poisoned underpants that almost became Navalny's undoing in 2020."
So they had this sitting around and decided to bring it out because of an election.

Personally, when it comes to music, 90% is the music itself—including the vocals, if there are any—and 10% is the lyrics. Or, to put it another way, the lyrics might add or subtract 10 points out of 100 from a hypothetical score. Obviously, there are exceptions to the rule.
As for this new song, my opinion is that it’s weak. We could rank it among the lesser B-sides.

NOBODY75 wrote: Sat 19 Sep 2026, 3:59 pmAs for this new song, my opinion is that it’s weak. We could rank it among the lesser B-sides.

I don’t disagree. But does anyone seriously expect them to release another It’s a Sin as a free YouTube stream? This is a sketch made several years ago and no considered worth commercially releasing at the time. It’s a peek under the hood of their demo-and-reject process that was only posted because of the election.