dEUS
Worst Case Scenario

(Review written in hindsight)

To my great disappointment, I discovered that "The Ideal Crash" is cited from various sources on these pages, while many have not listened to the first disc of Tom Barman's band.

They came from Antwerp, Belgium. Like saying from nowhere, at least on the indie map. It was 1994, and out of nowhere, dEUS appeared on Island Records. My first memory is the video of "Suds and Soda" on 120 Minutes, a cult MTV show presented by Paul King (the one from King and "Love and Pride").

The trademark of dEUS was the monotonous repetition of the same note or groups of notes (technically called "pedal"), often in unison with violin and guitar, as in the opening of "Suds and Soda": two hiccupping notes that accompany the entire track, followed by a heavy guitar. The song starts slow then fast, stops, jumps, restarts in the chorus "suds and soda mix ok with beer, can I, break your sentiment," while Stef Kamil Carlens, the bassist, starts to scream, or rather bark at regular intervals. A song built on 10 different ideas. Genius. With almost Zappa-like breaks without ever becoming that heavy. Adrenaline.

Then "Via," which starts with a dive into the sea. And again the two sister violin notes from "Suds and Soda," a distortion, and Tom singing euphorically, you can't hold him back "gonna hit it against a rock... hit it," and you feel like jumping too. Then here too, it stops, and in the breakdown, he communicates, "I skipped the part about love."

The masterpiece, however, is the more introverted piece "Hotellounge," chills run down my spine every time. Slow ballad. He is just sitting at the table, in a hotel bar. In the crescendo part, introduced by the resigned verse " ...and It's so hard to keep the dream alive" introduced by a creepana TLATAK! memory closes the verse with "and if all comes down to this I will... have another cigarette, I tend to forget..." one of the best lyrical constructions ever heard, it is the time of memory, alone waiting, and the logical conclusion of this turmoil of thoughts is to light a cigarette. Time is still. Nothing happens, let's smoke over it. The past cannot be changed.

The rest is a mix of pseudo-Zappa delirium, Pixies and Pavement hysteria, and time changes. And dynamics. But great pop songs. The delirious parts are under control, always functional to the track. With a thousand instruments, at that time not necessarily indie-orthodox, beginning with the violin that sometimes replaces the guitar feedbacks, imitates them.

This record remains their masterpiece. "In A Bar Under the Sea," a title reminiscent of Bennett, will not repeat and not in "The Ideal Crash" either. That is.

If you like dEUS, get this milestone. And if you do not like them yet, get it anyway. I don't like reviews written in hindsight, but this was necessary.