Thursday, March 5, 2020

Album Review: Pet Shop Boys - Hotspot (2020)

Ah, here we go again. Pet Shop Boys. Back with a new album to kick off a new year. The duo’s first for four years and their fourteenth overall. And naturally, Hotspot is the fourteenth successive Pet Shop Boys album with a one word title. Some things never change.

But then, if it’s change you’re after, you’d be best advised to avoid these guys. Pet Shop Boys don’t really do change. Which is both a blessing and a curse.

It’s a blessing because they’re really very clever. Very witty. Very socially aware. Very politically aware. Very right on (man). And they make brilliant pop music. They love a party.

It’s a curse because they’re really very cheesy. Very camp. Very dated. Very much stuck in the same old groove. And they make awful pop music. I’d never play Pet Shop Boys at my party.

I have a love/hate relationship with Pet Shop Boys. Clearly. Always have, probably always will. Some things never change.

It’s always the same. Hotspot is the same. The same as all of the others. If you make it past the first listen and all the way through the second, the chances are they’ll keep you. It’s the hooks. They write great hooks. Designed to keep you.

I love them for that. I hate them for that.

Hotspot is the latest Pet Shop Boys album. It’s brilliant and it’s awful.

Highlights: ‘Happy People’, ‘I Don’t Wanna’, ‘Monkey Business’, ‘Burning the Heather’ ...

Lowlights: ‘Happy People’, ‘I Don’t Wanna’, ‘Monkey Business’, ‘Burning the Heather’, etc.


No comments:

Post a Comment