Villains

03/26/1998 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

Sir Edward Vedder is the most important voice in rock of the '90s. Such a statement may seem a bit ridiculous given the fact that the decade is only six years old, but if imitation is a sign of importance, than Eddie is the dude. Just listen to the Verve Pipe's Brian Vander Ark on Villains, the band's major label debut, and tell me the guy isn't the latest vocalist to sound incredibly like the Edster. Vander Ark has the tortured-anguished-young-guy thing down pat, and the instrumental support from the rest of this East Lansing, Mich. quintet allows him plenty of room to play up the drama.

With Jerry Harrison and Tom Lord-Alge, who helped make Live's Throwing Cooper a radio staple, handling the producing and mixing duties respectively, the Verve Pipe will more than likely find a home at radio and a healthy fanbase. Songs such as the ominous "Reverend Girl" are undeniably catchy. And while "The Freshman" recalls Pearl Jam's "Better Man," it is indeed a dandy ballad. "Photograph," not a cover of the Ringo hit, creeps along with an eerie keyboard line that'll stick in your head for days. But because the Verve Pipe sounds similar to so many of their contemporaries (i.e. the bands with the other Vedder soundalikes), they may not be taken entirely seriously by critic types.

This is unfortunate because the Verve Pipe proves on Villains it certainly has talent. If they had emerged a decade earlier, the Verve Pipe would be a welcome breath of fresh air. But then again, 10 years ago, the band wouldn't have found such a welcome reception at radio and would sell far fewer records.

Damn that Vedder.