Simon Dillon
1 min readAug 17, 2021

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I've been a fan for decades. Their best recent album is probably Electric (2012) but beyond their golden era albums (Please, Actually, Behaviour, and Very being the best of those), I'd urge a listen to Bilingual (1996), Fundamental (2006), and Yes (2009).

If you're just after political/satirical tracks, check out Opportunities (about 80s capitalism), Shopping (about Thatcherite privatisation), How can you expect to be taken seriously (about certain pop stars), Shameless (about wanting to be famous for being famous, more relevant than ever today), Integral (specifically about Tony Blair's failed plan to introduce mandatory ID cards in Britain, but also broadly applicable elsewhere), and more recently On Social Media (nicely scathing of online culture).

Some of the above are singles, and I must say, speaking of which, Pet Shop Boys are great at producing outstanding single versions distinct and apart from album versions. The single versions of Suburbia, Heart, and How can you expect to be taken seriously are all good examples.

I'll shut up now. Sorry for the evangelistic essay.

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Simon Dillon
Simon Dillon

Written by Simon Dillon

Novelist and Short Story-ist. Film and Book Lover. If you cut me, I bleed celluloid and paper pulp. Blog: www.simondillonbooks.wordpress.com

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