Last May, lead singer James Maxwell Collins seemed to have pulled off quite the PR stunt when he was caught frolicking through the hallways of a Pittsburgh-area hotel in his birthday suit. His subsequent indecent exposure arrest briefly made the music news headlines. Eve 6 surely could use any publicity they could muster, as their ’90s alternative rock template continues to lose out in popularity to gloomy rap-rock and bratty emo/punk/pop. I bet you can’t even remember the last time you heard their biggest hit, “Here’s to the Night.”
Nevertheless, the trio returns with its third and most refined album. Eve 6 still concentrate on the universal plight of teenagers, such as relationships and loneliness, but they do toss in a few curveballs like the first single, “Think Twice,” where Collins belligerently warns those around him to “think twice before you touch my girl.” While most of the songs are formulaic and not quite memorable enough, the band’s consummate musicianship and occasionally clever lyrics rise above the banal material. It’s just too bad the album isn’t as edgy as the lead singer’s recent public antics.
Archived article by Brett Rosenthal