Humanoid (Deluxe Edition)

On their sophomore album Humanoid, Tokio Hotel offers glimpses of an apocalyptic future with a mixture of lust and loathing. The German teen combo continues to intermingle goth, glam and New Romantic motifs, both in their fashion sense and musical approach. Duran Duran and Depeche Mode’s ‘80s hits are frequent reference points here. Singer Bill Kaulitz preens and struts on top of industrial beats, achieving a playful sort of sulkiness on the trudging “Pain of Love” and the buoyant “Human Connect to Human.” Tokio Hotel don’t mind adding some froth to their gloomy brew, as the bouncy “Darkside of the Sun” and the tingling “Forever Now” show. Kaulitz and his band mates flirt with big themes (check out “Love & Death”), but mostly seem drawn to romantic revenge (“Automatic”) and brooding alienation (“Zoom Into Me).” Producer David Jost gives Tokio Hotel a high-gloss sonic environment to romp about in. Humanoid’s angst-ridden effervescence is relentlessly (maybe even inhumanly) catchy.