"We used to do this as a cheesy disco tune," informs Neil Tenant before this evening's rendition of early nineties Pet Shop Boys single Was It Worth It? "but now it's more of a folk song". And thus the Pet Shop Boys much vaunted 'new direction' is at last unveiled in all its 6-string glory.
There was a time in the mid eighties when catching Neil Tenant and Chris Lowe on the same stage as, not one, but two guitarists would have been tantamount to Marilyn Manson reinventing himself as Kym's replacement in Hear'Say. But tonight, here they stand, bold as brass on the Astoria stage, surrounded by indie kid guitarists tweaking their Marshall stacks for feedback like the bastard nephews of Johnny Marr. And what's more, it sounds fantastic.
Of course we could have seen it coming. The Pet Shop Boys have always worked with the dominant pop aesthetics of a given time and frequently emerged with music far more engaging than their contemporaries.
Back in the early nineties, in the death throes of the Stock, Aitken and Waterman junta, Neil and Chris could be found wandering around in ludicrous pointy hats and orange romper suits, peddling a far more interesting take on electronic pop than anything proper 'manufactured' groups could muster. The fact that the duo have now turned their hand to guitar music should come as no surprise, particularly given the genre's bland ascendancy in the hands of Travis and Coldplay.
And predictably the results are good deal more witty, intelligent and interesting than anything Fran Healy's well meaning new age ramblings have ever thrown up. The anthemic 'I Get Along' almost sounds like vintage Oasis, whilst early material such as Love Comes Quickly is transformed by its wall of guitar backing.
And of course, vestiges from their electro pop glory days are never far away. Sexy Northerner is a dazzling, hilarious HI-NRG romp on an epic scale and Go West finally brings an otherwise muted crowd to their feet in a three minute burst of camp pure pop exuberance.
"At last we made it to the Astoria," states Neil Tenant as his parting shot, "and it wasn't G.A.Y.". Perhaps a good job too. A crowd more used to the charms of A1 and Sonia may have been decidedly unsympathetic to the PSBs new found rockist leanings. That said, this is still unmistakably the Pet Shop Boys. The drum machines, sequencers and lyrics of biting wit are still there. It's just that they like to rock out a bit these days.
The point is that when most electronic bands 'go rock' it is usually because they have run desperately short on ideas. When the Pet Shop Boys do it, it is because rock, or more accurately folk, is the idea, in much the same way as 30's show tunes, trash pop and house have been in the past. We await their difficult Nu Rock album with baited breath.
