Dorp – Human Beings album review

2 stars (out of 5)

0

Dorp - Humans BeingSouth African rock band DORP are not your ordinary kind of band, with two members of the band originating from Cape Town, one from Paris and another from London, it’s fair to say that in geographical terms they’re pretty diverse. Their music is diverse as well, with political tones in their songs, pop themes, lashings of electronica and elements of rock, it’s hard to categorise them as a band, which is a positive.

Their new album ‘Humans Being’ is a 13 track insight into their talents, and new singles ‘Cops and Robbers’ and ‘Pigs Do Fly’ are the opening tracks on the disc. ‘Cops and Robbers’ is a decent enough introduction, with simple melodies combined with occasional electronica which produces a great sound, and the chorus is a hit. It’s not groundbreaking stuff but is a good tune, and Prodigy spring to mind when thinking of comparisons. ‘Pigs Do Fly’ is a faster paced song, with soft drums used as a backdrop to the vocals with short guitar riffs complimenting the song. Again this is a fair effort, but both of the opening two songs are lacking a bit of aggression, it’s easy enough to listen to but if anything is a bit dull.

‘Extreme’ sounds even more Prodigy-esque, and quite similar to the first two tracks, but again seems to be lacking something. It seems like DORP are trying too much at once, and because of that reason the end product isn’t quite right. ‘NME’ is a nice change, with a more eerie start brought to life by a punchy chorus – this is much better. The album seems to be getting better as it goes on, and ‘Plug into the Machine’ is a electronica filled tune that is fused with Piet Bez’s strong voice to create much better music, and comparisons with Kasabian now spring to mind.

‘Rollercoaster’ is probably the best of the lot, it’s got much more attitude and direction than the majority of the other songs on the album. It’s again a change in style, which shows DORP’s diversity, and the chorus in this one is definitely one to listen out for. ‘London Out There’ has a punchy fast-paced melody, which combined with more lashings of electronica produces a nice tune, but the song isn’t one of DORP’s best. Quite a few of the songs seem to lack direction, I don’t know where they are heading, it’s almost as if they’ve just picked up the instruments and randomly thrown something together.

‘Boy/Girl’ sees the band plunge into notions of sexual identity, something that has been done by the band they most sound like before. It’s a dark slow-paced song, which again is a change in direction, but I’d say is the worst track on the album. ‘Stand Out’ doesn’t do what it says on the tin, it’s a bit the same to the opening tracks on the album. ‘Simon Says’ doesn’t really get out of first gear either, with poorly constructed lyrics and a dull, ineffective chorus.

We’re on the home straight, and to be honest I’m quite pleased, for all their diversity I’m finding DORP quite boring and repetitive. ‘A List’ has got a more anthem type of chorus and with punchy drums and neat riffs is a more pleasing effort, it just seems like it’s come a bit too late on. ‘I Got What You Need’ is the final track on the album, and is a nice one to finish with. It’s got a good rhythm and catchy chorus to it, more of this in the album would have had a more positive review from me.

Overall I think this album is an average effort, but despite all of DORP’s talents and changes in style there is nothing that stands them out from the rest. You’re better off sticking to Prodigy.

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