Electronic- s/t

Did you ever listen to New Order and wonder what they would be like if you mixed in a healthy portion of The Smiths and added a pinch of Pet Shop Boys? That's exactly what Electronic's first album sounds like, and if you're a fan of any of the three aforementioned bands you owe it to yourself to hear it.

Electronic's first self-titled album really does sound a lot like a New Order album with Smiths and Pet Shop Boys added in, and there's no reason they shouldn't. This is the pet project of Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr that Neil Tennant somehow shoehorned his way into (probably by pointing out the fact that he's Neil Tennant).

Two of the tracks on this album sound exactly like Pet Shop Boys tracks that could easily be placed alongside anything on Alternative. Those two tracks are, "Getting Away With It" and "Patience of a Saint" which are incoincidentally the two tracks that Neil Tennant got involved with. I happen to love Alternative, so the aforementioned two tracks are among my favorites on this album.

The rest of the album shows much more New Order influence, but you can hear Johnny Marr's guitar churning away and adding his two bits to every track. This is one collaboration that succeeds in every detail. Sumner and Marr are in perfect harmony and seem to know exactly where they want the music to go, and that's really saying something.

In a world where "supergroups" are all too often much less than the sum of their parts, Electronic is a major success. As a matter of fact, I'll say it right out that Republic would not have been as fantastic as it was had Bernard Sumner not spent some quality time with Johnny Marr.