Eve 6-Speak in Code

by: Sal Christ

Photo Credit: Fearless Records

Eve 6’s Max Collins and his band mates weren’t even of drinking age when their eponymous debut record dropped in 1998, so it went without saying that their alt-rock meets pop-punk style was a hit with high school and college kids. Your whole life is melodramatic at that age, and everything—positive or negative— burns into your memory that indescribable heart racing, jaws chattering, breath caught in your throat excitement. 2001’s “Here’s to the Night” likely played at every school dance that year for the same reason that Green Day’s “Good Riddance” was a graduation anthem: it spoke to a particular time in everyone’s life when one chapter ended, and one began. Of course, these memories are only meaningful for the fact that life is wistful by nature—everything evolves, revolves, and ripens until it ends.

The first album from the group in nine years, Speak In Code is a strange listen—the music hasn’t aged, even if the members have. While there’s a timeless quality to the music—the tracks could have been recorded 10 or 15 years ago and fans wouldn’t know the difference—it’s a little disappointing considering that much of the band’s audience isn’t 19 or 20 anymore. “Victoria” and “BFDG” scream ‘teenager’ with lines such as, “I’ve been thinking ‘bout ya since the first time that I saw ya / Think it’s safe to say that I’ve been obsessed,” and “Situation Infatuation” comes too close to the All-American Rejects.

It’s not that the music isn’t comfortably familiar, or that the reunited musicians have lost their synergy. In fact, the entire album instantly transports listeners back to the late ‘90s and early 2000s in a way that only nostalgia guarantees. The songs even capture that sensation of invincibility with hooky melodies and Collins’ distinct surfer voice. Still, much of the album falls flat for the sole reason that it hasn’t built on any of the band’s prior work.

Eve 6 has returned with a solid record that’s certain to find a new generation of fans, and keep some longtime fans happy for now. However, music should evolve on some level, and Speak In Code doesn’t quite do that—the band and its tunes still sound like they’re stuck at age 22. Perhaps the next album might up the ante.

Tags: speak in code, eve 6, max collins, green day good riddance, here's to the night, victoria, bfdg, situation infatuation, the all american rejects

Category: A-Sides