MUSIC
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PET SHOP BOYS New tour for the semi-elusive electro duo
Floating in a bubble somewhere between retro kitsch and timeless futurism, Pet Shop Boys are titans of innovation in British pop music. Any doubts held on this score are owned by listeners who never quite realised that PSB were hiding in plain sight, semiotic manipulators disguised as two-dimensionally reassuring salesmen of pop hits. The crooning former Marvel UK editor Neil Tennant and permanently-sunglassed electronics ‘bofi n’ Chris Lowe certainly don’t need to be weighed down with over-excited claims of cleverness in lieu of being able to write a great song. Where they really made an impression which lasted was in covering both bases, stealing in and out of the zeitgeist with effortless radio hits which took the temperature of their times perfectly. Fusing disco, electropop and house music into one, they illustrated London’s class divide in ‘West End Girls’, soundtracked Thatcherite yuppiedom with ‘Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)’, and took gay culture into the mainstream with tracks like ‘Rent’ and their cover of ‘Go West’. The opinion that they’ve faded as musicians isn’t shared by those who still look at chart placings rather than YouTube views: including last year’s Super, all 13 of their albums have been top ten UK hits. Yet it’s their attention-grabbing live shows which keep the Boys’ legend l ying high; this latest leg of the Super tour is boosted with a set designed by Es Devlin – who also worked on last year’s opening ceremony at the Rio Olympics – featuring lasers, fat suits and exotically designed headgear. How much you want to think about what it all means is up to you. (David Pollock) ■ Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow, Tue 21 Feb; Edinburgh Playhouse, Wed 22 Feb.
1 Feb–31 Mar 2017 THE LIST 69
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