Das Pop’s The Human Thing is better than it would initially seem. That isn’t much of an observation, and certainly not one that you would like to hear from your favourite webzine (that’s what we hope anyway...) There are, however, enough biases that one could have when initially reading the information about this record: Das Pop draw their inspiration from the exhausted puddle of eighties and seventies music, they are from Belgium (that could be a prejudice, arguably), and on their last tour they all wore white t-shirts containing ‘I LOVE’ (the name of their debut record), like those bumper stickers that usually invoke aggressive behaviour towards other motorists. One could argue therefore that Das Pop is just another retro-style band, trying to cash in on a current hype.

This is, however, not the case.

The Human Thing is the follow-up to 2000’s I Love, which consisted of not-taking-itself-all-too-serious retro eighties pop with rocky elements. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t overcome the barrier that Das Pop set for themselves by making a record with such a gimmick-like approach. That didn’t stop I Love from becoming successful in Western Europe. For the band, however, it wasn’t satisfying. So, they forced themselves to record something that would prove that they weren’t destined to wear those ‘I Love’ shirts for the next decade.

And see: The Human Thing is more varied, thoughtful and longer enjoyable than I Love. The most admirable fact is how Das Pop succeeded in making all the elements of a song fit together, with an incredible feeling for timing. On exactly the right moment the musical elements enter the song in such a way that it makes you grin for a few seconds, just because it is played in exactly the right position.

Das Pop has succeeded in creating a record that brings other musical styles to mind, but has enough of their own to be distinctive, and indeed, very enjoyable.

1. You
2. Turn
3. All Wrong
4. Never There
5. Love Is Fair
6. Telephone Love
7. We Live Again
8. Another World
9. Machine
10. Feelgood Factors
11. Feverman
12. Gerard
13. Human Thing
14. Neversleeper