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Jun 03, 2009 Pet Shop Boys By Lily Moayeri

Listening to any of the endless dance-floor-oriented hits from Pet Shop Boys in their 13-year-long career, you would think the duo of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have nothing but disco balls on their mind. But the two, who have just released their tenth studio album, Yes, have a lot more running through their brains. Starting their musical career in the mid-‘80s, Pet Shop Boys have been through the boom of that decade, through the changeable ‘90s, and are now closing out the doom-filled ‘00s with not a lot changing in their songwriting process.

Yes follows 30 million records sold worldwide. Its electro-pop aesthetic maintains Pet Shop Boys’ hold on their position as the fourth most successful dance act in the United States. Yes is produced by the superfluous hit-making team Xenomania, who count Cher and Kylie Minogue among their successful clients. The Boys, however, could have done just as well on their own. And Yes features guitar work from Pet Shop Boys invisible third member, Johnny Marr of The Smiths. Unlike its predecessor, Fundamental, Yes is not a commentary on the war on terror and its offshoot topics. Instead, it is a celebration of the positive things in life through great pop moments such as on the flamboyant “Pandemonium.” This is not to say Tennant and Lowe aren’t completely consumed by the idea of “big brother,” which they relay on “Legacy.”

“Your mobile phone tells ‘them’ where you are,” says Lowe furiously after downing a classic old British lunch of baked beans on white toast with margarine and HP sauce. “I travel on public transportation and try to pay cash rather than card. There’s nothing to hide about the fact that I’m going up to see my mum, but I just don’t want ‘them’ to be able to know that, because it isn’t any of their business. But, it is going ahead full-steam. It’s all technology-driven. If something is possible, it will happen.”

“[Lowe] and I are completely obsessed by this,” says Tennant from a different locale in a separate conversation. “The whole world is going to prison at the same time. This technology exists and governments are too afraid to reject it. Democracies are becoming technological prisons for citizens by surveillance, wire-tapping, spying on emails, and filming.”

The two had a recent experience with filming while doing promotion for Yes on an Italian television show. Their arrival was filmed and 10 minutes later, you could watch it on the Internet. This is not the kind of attention the duo is looking for on an ongoing basis, as they express on “Vulnerable.”

“In the ‘80s people tended to be a lot more private,” remembers Lowe. “You’d do a TV show and it was, ‘no photos,’ and hiding from the cameras. The current generation wants to be photographed. It’s a real shift in attitude. Everyone’s got a camera in their phone. It’s horrible. I despise it really.”

On the other hand, Pet Shop Boys made an appearance on Dancing With the Stars towards the end of 2008, which goes against their philosophy, yet at the same time fits right in with their unpredictable activities, such as doing the soundtrack for Battleship Potemkin, writing a ballet, or working with Liza Minnelli.

“It’s one of those bizarre things that we end up doing every now and then and everyone’s a bit puzzled as to why we’ve done it,” admits Lowe. “We’re quite alternative in our outlook. It’s a shocking thing to do to go on a mainstream program like that. It’s all to do with context, isn’t it?”

Tennant and Lowe have been exposed to an overabundance of talent shows while traveling to support Yes. In every country they have been in, the music scene is cluttered up with talent show rejects, singing big ballads, and wanting to be trained to be a pop star.

“We come from a complete different world,” says Lowe. “You don’t need to look good. You don’t need to play. As long as you’ve got an idea and you’ve got the will to do something and you want to be creative, you can have a go. Out of that comes some really interesting stuff. When you think about a lot of music written in the ‘80s, these are people that did it because they just wanted to be in a pop group. They hadn’t been to stage school. They hadn’t learned it as a trade. They weren’t styled. Bands bought second-hand clothes and put looks together, applied makeup, and tried to be interesting and different. It was a very creative period. Now everyone wants to be mega-professional. One thing Britain’s always been good at is producing interesting amateurs.”

Pet Shop Boys have long since relinquished their amateur status. This fact was acknowledged earlier this year at their home country’s Brit Awards where the Outstanding Contribution To Music Award was bestowed up them. Still, Tennant and Lowe are secretly holding out for an invitation to perform on America’s Got Talent.

(www.petshopboys.co.uk)