dEUS can hardly be called a revolutionary band any more. On top of that, the CD-cover looks horrible, and the hype and buzz surrounding the release of Pocket Revolution made us feel more than a little suspicious. Needless to say that our expectations weren't particularly high. But after listening to their latest CD, we came to the conclusion that our fears were unfounded. Although this is not the best Barman & Co have ever made, fans will definitely not be disappointed.
dEUS have never ranked among the most productive bands in the world. It took them 11 years to release 4 full-sized records, and since The ideal crash we had to wait no less than 6 years for this latest one. Of course, it would be unfair to claim that Tom Barman has been lazing about during those years. He made a full-length feature film – Any way the wind blows – and had quite number of side projects, such as Magnum.
Six years ago, everyone kept saying that the release of The ideal crash was a moment of truth for dEUS. It was an excellent CD, but international sales were again disappointing. In the meantime, dEUS have exchanged Island Records for the British V2. This new record company now clearly wants to put the band on the world map, and is also prepared to make the necessary efforts to promote the album. In 2006, Pocket Revolution will be released in the US , Japan and Australia . The band will also go on a tour that will last until the summer of 2006. Let's hope that they'll be able to deal with the pressure of making it big time.
Anyway, let's get down to the music. In the middle of the recording sessions, Craig Ward and Danny Mommens decided to call it quits, but in spite of this, their contribution to the album is still quite audible. In the meantime, Mauro Pawlovski (ex-Evil Superstars, now just himself), Alan Gevaert (Arno), Stéphane Misseghers (Soulwax) and now and again CJ Bolland (Magnus) dropped by the recording studio to lend a hand. In spite of these comings and goings, the typical, complex, multi-layered dEUS-sound has remained intact. The rumour that this album would be more accessible in order to reach a larger audience has turned out to be rubbish. More than ever the songs are bathed in hard and uncompromising guitar sounds. With the exception of the dreamy, yet pleasant-sounding Include me out, and the quiet The real sugar, there aren't many slow songs on the album. On a number of tracks, Mauro has clearly left his mark on the music. In Stop-start nature, we can hear the unpredictable rhythms and edgy guitar riffs that are so typical of The Evil Superstars. His influence is also very apparent on the wild, super-tense track Cold Sun of Circumstance.
All the rest is trademark dEUS. The first single, If you don't get what you want , gives a pretty good impression of what the rest of the CD sounds like. The powerful, extended song Bad Timing, gets the record underway in just about the same way as Put the freaks up does on The ideal Crash . The new single, 7 days, 7 weeks, sounds a little like Sister Dew. What we talk about (when we talk about love), with its fun groove, its sophisticated melody and its JJ Cale-like singing, seems to have been plucked from the Magnus collection. On the soulful title track, we can hear Zita Zwoon – just listen to the little choir! And before ending the album with a remix of one of dEUS' most famous songs – Nothing really ends, which had never been officially released on a regular album – Antwerp's finest really let it rip on the rather chaotic, yet highly addictive track Sun Ra .
It can't be said that dEUS sounds new or innovating the way they used to, but the music they offer us after 10 years still belongs to the best Belgium has to offer. It's great to see and hear that the Belgium music scene is more alive than ever, and dEUS are the perfect messengers to spread the word across the globe. We wish them well! May they be more fortunate than 6 years ago.