Perhaps Pet Shop Boys is yet another band I have such a soft spot for, I can't be trusted about. Have a look through the knocking on 17,000 posts on this website and tell me how many negative words you can find about Pet Shop Boys? Does the word NONE mean anything to you.? Well, I won't be starting now.PSB have always been awesome with a cover, "Always On My Mind" -sure, but how about "Go west". The gay anthem to beat all gay anthems. Hell, the Broadway Musical "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" got half its power from it. The recently released EP Winner, offers up a study in perfection with the Bee Gees cover, "I Started A Joke". Neil always sounds as though he is a part the start crying, and Chris is always like his kid brother, tugging at his sleeve.
They reached their 30th Anniversary last year.
And on this EP they are still whole other levels of excellent. Only four tracks but "Winner" is one though it is a painful mid-tempo ballad, and "The Way through The Woods…" is a progrock heartbreaker and "A certain Je Ne Sais Quoi" an old fashioned disco song with the doctoring on the drums just a taste of dub. Four songs, each one an absolute gem. The sound is the same as it was, gorgeous melodies played on triumphant synths, everything undercut by a melancholia. It isn't dated because it sounds like PSB. That's al
Here is some info off their website: "The new PSB four-track digital EP of "Winner"/"A certain 'Je ne sais quoi'"/"The way through the woods"/"I started a joke" is now released in the UK by iTunes, Amazon and other online retailers.
A second digital EP of mixes of "Winner" by Andrew Dawson, John Dahlback and Nikki and the Dove will be released next Sunday when the pre-order for the new album, "Elysium", will commence.
The four-track CD format is available from today from the store on this site.
Current positions in iTunes album charts around Europe: Sweden – 2, Denmark – 10, Germany -10, UK -17, Netherlands – 23, Belgium – 30, Italy – 34, Austria – 37, Norway – 37, Switzerland – 40, Greece – 44, France – 60."
Grade: A