Pet Shop Boys - Very

Pet Shop Boys are one of those acts I might have described as a guilty pleasure back when I thought Pop was a dumb genre. They ornament their pop in every almost-lame way imaginable, with strings and horns and synths and superficially intriguing lyrics, and it’s the poppiest of the poppy. Every beat and chord change is straightforward to the point of trope, but they lean into it so hard it doesn’t sound contrived. 

I’m actually at a loss to explain why I like Pet Shop Boys so much relative to my expectations. Maybe it’s because their goofy album covers put you in a totally unpretentious state of mind (at least until this album, which featured a cover with raised bumps like a fancy handbag and was featured in the MoMA) that, for me at least, makes me assume they’re being unserious most of the time. And like most things melodramatic, the biggest determinant of cringeyness to me is the artist’s intent - in this case, my assumption that they’re partly just screwing around makes me love what I’m hearing. If I thought they were serious or tone-deaf, I’d probably do a 180 on my opinion. But this isn’t lame synth-pop, it’s regular synth-pop with a hint of satire, or so my brain tells me. That might not be true, but it’s true in my head and it totally transforms the experience.

From the roundup Jamwise #44 - The Best Albums of 1993, pt. 3.