Eve 6

04/28/1998 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Wendy Hermanson

It's pretty easy to shove Eve 6 into some sort of punk-skate-annoyance niche without even hearing the record: after all, they're yet another trio of underage Pumas-and-wallet-chain-types. Yeah, yeah, we got Green Day already and that's enough, get outta here and go to college or something.

Eat yer words! Eve 6 don't play 1994-era NOFXian ripoffs, nor do they reach way back to 1989 and go the Op Ivy ska-tinged route. In fact, the band barely hints at any form of punk rock. Nor are they lo-fi or grungy in any way. Instead, they play pure, unpretentious, remarkably (especially considering their average age of 19) self-confident powerpop. Eve 6's debut relies heavily on guitar chords that are almost as clean as handclaps, simple and smart melodic progressions, and infectious singalong choruses (try not humming along to "Inside Out," "Showerhead" or "Superhero Girl"). Toss on top of this strict songwriting discipline a dose of male adolescent Taco Bell-fueled spazz, and the result is very nicely channeled musical energy. Sure, the singer yells a bit every now and then, but hey, he's gotta put it somewhere.