POP MUSIC REVIEW : The Pet Shop Boys Make a Detached U.S. Debut

The opening of the Pet Shop Boys’ first U.S. show Tuesday at the Mayan Club was a disco dream: green laser canopy stretching to infinity, soulful female backing singers, male bimbo dancers, an anthem of ambivalence with a throbbing beat, and at the center of it all a complete blank.

That vacancy is an essential aspect of the British duo, which has raised detachment to a fine art in a series of records--”West End Girls,” “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money),” “Always on My Mind”--that scrape cynical social observations and romantic regrets against walls of achingly sweet, dance-pop instrumentation. The formula has attracted critical acclaim and lots of money.

So even though studio geniuses Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe proved nondescript as performers at the downtown club--Tennant looked like a stiff young accountant being forced to sing at a party--the overall effect was true to a pure Pet Shop ideal: swooning ennui from the singer, sweeping melodies and unrelenting dance pulse from the instruments, everything governed by impeccable craft.

The predominantly programmed music didn’t allow for much sense of performance, and while the evening’s special-event nature (the group’s U.S. debut came four years after the hits began) helped generate an air of excitement, the 45-minute set was just an abbreviated, no-frills preview of their upcoming tour. That full-scale show will feature elaborate staging, and it looks as if the Pet Shop Boys will need something like that to deliver their music with the ambition it deserves.