Neve

Album Review

Neve (rhymes with sleeve) is what in the early 1980s was called a power pop band; they specialize in quick-tempo songs with loud, ringing guitars and simple melodies that resolve into catchy choruses. Nowadays, that sound is called pop-alternative or some variant, but whatever you call it, it's an attractive sound that has the trappings of hard rock but with most of the rough edges rubbed smooth. The group scored a minor, if surprising, college radio hit with "It's Over Now" after the song was included on the soundtrack of The Faculty in late 1998. Included here, it's typical of Neve's music. As on all the album's songs, written by various combinations of group members, the lyrics are sung by an "I" to a "you" who is sometimes referred to as "she," and they concern romantic matters in sketchy terms, with the narrator usually asserting his independence in the choruses. In a sense, the album consists of 13 versions of the same song, and what really matters are the guitars, the beat, and the peppy sound of John Stephens' vocals. Popular music in recent years has tended to veer toward extremes, but bands like Neve are aiming at a theoretical center, a late-teen audience ready to grow out of the boy vocal groups into something that rocks without being as threatening as the rap and metal acts. It remains to be seen whether that theory will work in practice. If so, Neve may be one of those to reap the benefits.