Pitchfork

After several intense listens, I still can't seem to come to a conclusion as to how I feel about this record. Part of me wants to wants to just blow it off as a couple of mid-'80s has-beens trying to make a comeback with a more striking feel. Unfortunately, it's not going to be that easy.

We all remember that these guys scored their first major hit in 1985 with "West End Girls," and most of us want to forget it. Some of us remember their later singles like "Opportunity (Let's Make Lots of Money)" and some of their really later singles like, well, the theme to Absolutely Fabulous. Do you really think it's possible for a band like this to make good music? I didn't.

For the first four seconds of Bilingual, I was convinced it was more of the same synthetic, electroid waste that we're so accustomed to hearing from the Boys. And that's when the strings came in. Of course, they're not real strings, but all the same, the chords played are not your standard danceable, major key chords. It's much darker than that. The drum loops begins its aggressive pounding, and you slowly begin to realize that something's changed with these guys. The song is "Discoteca," and though British dance music doesn't usually keep me interested, this stuff is pretty remarkable. It's the perfect song for a rainy night drive.

"Discoteca" leads nicely into the title cut from the album, which is a great song (if somewhat similar to "Discoteca") except for the chorus which comes along every ten seconds and irritatingly proclaims "I'm single / Bilingual," one of the worst lyrics of all time.

The disc goes all over the place, covering some virtually unexplored territory, and occasionally returns to the mid- '80s vein of hellmusic we love to hate these days. The songs even out pretty well, and I have to say, Bilingual is better than I thought it would be. It's embarrasing to admit to liking this record, but somebody's got to do it. I feel pretty confident there are others just like me out there.