"SUBURBIA" PET SHOP BOYS (1986)

For the month of November, I’ll be selecting songs in conjunction with the music Twitter challenge: #WelcomeToTheOccupation.

Like many stateside, “West End Girls” was my introduction to the edgy synthscapes and witty verse of Pet Shop Boys. Please is one of the genre’s greatest debut albums. And though I think PSB’s singles are much better than the original album versions, it is a treasure trove. In addition to “West End Girls”, it’s packed with other big tracks like “Opportunities”, “Love Comes Quickly”, “Two Divided By Zero” and one of my favorites: “Suburbia”.

While another 80’s anthem – Rush’s “Subdivisions” – painted a bleak picture of suburban life, this track seemed to go even darker – moving beyond high school cliques and into a world of violence and squalor. In stark contrast, the music created a utopian vibe with the soaring synth notes. “Suburbia”’s defining element is probably the dog barks – deliberately electronic and fake in their sound – and all the more powerful for it.

“Where's a policeman when you need one
To blame the colour TV?”

"BEING BORING" PET SHOP BOYS (1990)

As an eighties kid, synth pop has been pumping in my blood ever since that first day I turned on my MTV. There’s some debate as to who’s considered a synth pop band and who isn’t. For this September Music Twitter challenge – #SynthPopSeptember – I’m focusing more on what’s considered synth pop, not who. The songs I’m featuring on Mental Jukebox this month aren’t solely composed of synthesizers. There may be drums, bass, and dare I say, electric guitars. But each of these songs were picked because the synthesizer is core to its being.

When done right, the art of engineering paradoxical elements in a song can lead to something incredible. We’ve seen it occur from the post-punk days of Joy Division when Ian Curtis’ baritone vocals crawled underneath Peter Hook’s unusually high bass lines. Or several years later when The Smiths paired Marr’s jangly guitar riffs with Morrissey’s morbid commentary of misery. It happened again in 1990 with Pet Shop Boys’ fan favorite, “Being Boring”.

“Being Boring” is one of my favorite songs from the Pet Shop Boys catalog because of its paradoxical elements, fusing a majestic synthscape with Tenant’s mundane memoir of growing up. The track saw less commercial success than some of their bigger singles in the US, but it was laden with some of Lowe’s most pristine synth riffs and Tenant’s finest lyrics. The song is about a friend of Tenant’s who died of AIDS. It’s about the reflection and change in perspective we may have in hindsight. I consider Please, Actually, Introspective and Behaviour to be one of the finest synth pop album runs in history – and “Being Boring” is arguably their best song.

“We dressed up and fought, then thought: "Make amends". And we were never holding back or worried that time would come to an end.”

"IT'S ALRIGHT" PET SHOP BOYS (1988)

Electronic albums play a huge role in my fascination with music. For me, synthesizers and drum machines aren’t better or worse than live drums and guitars. They’re just different. They make music much more imaginative for me. I think Nick Rhodes’ synth parts on those early Duran Duran albums were some of my first loves. Shimmery one moment, jarring the next. Rhodes’ keyboard flourishes changed the complexion of every song. This month, I’m featuring my Top 15 electronic albums along with one featured track.

Album: Introspective (1988)

The task of picking one Pet Shop Boys record to highlight isn’t easy. There are several great ones. I went with Introspective because of the versatility of the album – from grand, cinematic explorations to Miami-influenced sonics to reimagined covers. It’s an album that proves the naysayers wrong. These aren’t one trick ponies. Pet Shop Boys have carved out a multi-faceted approach to synth pop that has kept them relevant over several decades and kept their live shows electric. “It’s Alright” is one of the lesser heralded singles from the record, but one of my favorites.

I’m a bigger fan of the single version, but I’m focusing on the album version in this post. The beginning is immediately distinguishable with the choir vocals, and then continues to stand out from other synth pop tracks with Lowe’s analog, piano sounds while the drum machine brings the hammer down and the bass part is as low as low can go. Together, these electronic elements are like waves for Tenant’s vocals to surf along on and on and on.

“I hope it's gonna be alright. And the music plays forever.”

"BEING BORING" PET SHOP BOYS (1990)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #SeptSongLyricChallenge

Day 23

Now onto one of my favorite songs from the Pet Shop Boys. The duo peaked early, but I consider Please, Actually, Introspective and Behaviour all to be some of the finest synth pop albums ever recorded. “Being Boring” saw less commercial success than some of their big singles, but the track was laden with some of Lowe’s most pristine synth riffs and Tenant’s finest lyrics. The song looks back at growing up and observes the change of perspective and values in hindsight.

“And we were never being boring. We dressed up and fought, then thought: "Make amends". And we were never holding back or worried that time would come to an end.”

"LOVE COMES QUICKLY" PET SHOP BOYS (1986)

It’s time to get back to my favorite decade. For the month of March, I’ll be looking back at some of my favorite jams from the 80s. These songs often came to me via MTV or the radio. NYC-area stations WDRE, WPLJ, WNEW, K-ROCK and Z100 introduced me to everything from irresistible pop confections to under-the-radar post-punk anthems. I would not be who I am today if it weren’t for the 80s. It was the decade when I discovered music can be a truly powerful thing. #31DaysOf80sSongs

The year “West End Girls” soared to the top of the charts in the U.S. was momentous. Most synth pop outfits gained their following on the fringes. Pet Shop Boys, in contrast, broke through the ceiling. The single was an anomaly, but in many ways the rest of the Please album was more substantive. Three other singles came off the album: “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)”, “Suburbia” and “Love Comes Quickly”. The latter is one of my all-time favorite PSB tracks and the song that gets today’s nod on the Mental Jukebox.

“Love Comes Quickly” is a dance song, but not in the fast, upbeat tempo that many other PSB songs employ, like “Always On My Mind”, “So Hard”, “Domino Dancing” and “It’s A Sin”. “Love Comes Quickly” was a quiet groove that settles in mid-tempo at the beginning and stays there. The synth bass hooks lure you in, but it’s the lyrics and Tennant’s tenor vocals that are the spotlight. I saw a YouTube video of their London Royal Opera House performance of the song two years ago. Tennant goes down an octave only on the one line that soars into the stratosphere in the original studio recording: “You can fly away to the end of the world. But where does it get you?” Other than that, he sounds remarkably sharp – and, together with Lowe, prove the resiliency of their brand of synth pop near 40 years later.

“Sooner or later, sooner or later, this happens to everyone.”