Lately, I’ve been listening a lot to the Pet Shop Boys, one of the greatest pop groups ever and the gold standard for synth-pop duos. So how do Hurts, the genre’s latest chart sensations, measure up? Not very well, to be frank. The best compositions of Tennant and Lowe are marked by musical and lyrical brilliance; Hurts’ tracks, by comparison – all angsty vocals and generic electro rhythms – sound like the work of an especially uninspired emo outfit.
The group certainly aspire to PSB’s art-pop aesthetic, from the arty black-and-white cover shot to the promo activities surrounding Freedom, which include an interactive audiobook co-created by author Joe Stretch and narrated by Anna Friel. However, the presentation counts for little if the music isn’t up to scratch and there is some seriously weak songwriting on the debut offering from singer Theo Hutchcraft and synth player Adam Anderson; the likes of ‘Blood, Gold & Tears’, ‘Sunday’ and ‘Evelyn’ (coincidentally, also the title of a track on the new Clinic album) are dour exercises in cookie-cutter electro-pop, bereft of melodic and rhythmic inspiration.
To be fair, both the hit single ‘Wonderful Life’ and Kylie Minogue collaboration ‘Devotion’ are quite catchy and hint that Hurts may well have a much better album in them. For the time being, though, I’m sticking firmly with Neil and Chris.
Key track: ‘Wonderful Life’