POCKET REVOLUTION

dEUS are little known outside Belgium so their pages here are a sure way to find fellow countrymen. I even suspect Belgium must have 'someone on the inside' or 'on the board' of PA. I mean, there are little reasons to associate dEUS with classic prog so some serious lobbying must have been needed to add them here. And good they have been, because they are a wonderful band.

dEUS are an exceptional alternative rock band with a very eclectic sound borrowing from a wide range of influences, from guitar rock, folk and punk to jazz, kraut and art rock. Depending on your background you may find one song reminds you of Sonic Youth, another of Velvet Underground or David Bowie, Tom Waits or Velvet Underground. To add a reference to a more recent band, I could add Dredg to the list, but with a less pathetic type of voice.

Generally, I find this album drenched with the spirit and influence from kraut rock. Especially Can comes to mind. By the time of Pocket Revolution, dEUS had shed off some of their earlier excesses and concentrated on the songs instead. To good effect.

To single out a few songs I would of course need to start with Bad Timing. This 7 minute track is an outstanding crescendo that might certainly appeal to space rock fans. It's effect is entrancing and deeply moving to say the least. What We Talk About has a similar vibe to it.

Up-tempo rockers like Stop-Start Nature, If You Don't Get What You Want and Nightshopping should convince Muse fans that with more restrained singing, other bands are better at doing what they do.

And outstanding melancholic ballads like Include Me Out, The Real Sugar or the beginning of the title track before it turns into an ecstatic gospel, should sure appeal to everybody liking the introspective and gentle moments of Porcupine Tree or recent Anekdoten. Damn! Nothing Really Ends even has xylophone!

dEUS have always embraced experimentation in their sound so the tag art rock would suit them quite well. If you feel like stretching your wings outside symphonic progland for a change, and if you like diverse albums that are still coherent even though not one song resembles another, then this album comes highly recommend. If you can't find the album I'll be glad to help you.