Former pop journalist Neil Tennant and architecture student Chris Lowe formed the duo Pet Shop Boys in 1981. Especially in the second half of the eighties they were very successful with songs like West End Girls, Suburbia and It's A Sin. The press initially had little respect for Pet Shop Boys, but that changed with the strong album Very (1993) on which the hit Go West (a cover of Village People)
… could be found. In the second half of the nineties little new music by the gentlemen appeared, but because the typical eighties sound has been completely 'hip' again since 2001, the Pet Shop Boys have returned to the studio. They were assisted by guitarist Johnny Marr (The Smiths) who is a master in writing catchy guitar riffs. Marr eventually co-wrote seven of the ten new songs on Release. The music does not sound dated at all and thanks to Tennant's drawling voice and Lowe's keyboard sounds very familiar. They also managed to record a number of super melodic and hit sensitive songs again. The best example of this is the song London, but the single Home And Dry is also impressive. (MvP)more
