"Sometime your better off dead..", so began the lyrics of the Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls". The electronic dance duo were the club darlings of the 80s but have never really went away. New Wave, New Romantic, whatever it was called it was simple synth dance with a thumpy beat.
The Pet Shop Boys have since written a ballet and actually have a new album out called Elysium and have a single called 'Leaving' as a lyric video on youtube. I will start out by saying there really nothing is cheaper looking than an ocean at sunset and a lyric scroll. I don't suppose this is 'official' but its just a PowerPoint presentation with music. I wont review that other than saying..its allowed me to hear the song.
Had I not had the lyrics passing before my eyes I would have thought this the most lame tune I had heard in years. It sounds dated and out of place and pretty uncomfortable.Its almost as if it were a lost track. I am no professor of dance music but I have heard enough to know that decades have unique sound and I'm confident this is not dance hall 2012. But if its a retro vibe you're looking for look no further. The lyrics are simplistic and somewhat amusing, the trouble is I don't think its supposed to be funny. I think these are real emotions but for some reason they're so cliche' they are laughable.
I wont discount what the Pet Shop Boys offered up to the scene back in their day but the truth is- their day is done. For now they are nothing more than a tribute band to themselves in an almost karaoke like stereotype of gayboy club land.