Love, Etc

A reader writes:

I'm male, straight, and 38. I first heard the Pet Shop Boys in high school and dismissed it as yet more soulless, computerized Brit-Pop. Then one night in a club I heard their version of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name." I thought, "Listen to this crap. They take this well-made, passionate song and drain it of all feeling. Oh wait. That's brilliant. They're geniuses."       

I've been a devoted fan ever since, and I find the band, much like the community they document, funny, generous, and occasionally heartbreaking. This American gets it.

And pop groups that mock pop groups with pretensions (Bono and Sting have been particular targets of PSB wit) cannot be all bad. For political satire, check this one out - and think of Cheneyism. How many contemporary bands create an anthem in defense of political liberty and against the surveillance/police state?