Thursday - July 17, 2008
5:00pm, Columbus Park

Eve 6 was an alternative rock band from Southern California, who disbanded in 2004. Their musical genre has often been classified as punk or post-grunge. The band formed in 1995 in La Crescenta, California as Eleventeen; the name Eve 6 was only adopted later, after they already had a recording contract and were looking for a replacement drummer. Tony Fagenson, who auditioned while attending the University of Southern California, was an X-Files fan. After seeing the episode “Eve”, which featured genetically engineered characters known as “Eves,” he got the name from the character called Eve #6 who made a remark about biting a guard’s eyeball, which Fagenson thought merited “Eve 6″ as a band name.

Eve 6’s basic rock trio (guitar/bass/drums) sound is augmented on their later studio recordings with many interesting studio techniques. For example, “Bang” (from Horrorscope) culminates in a section constructed entirely from repeated, overdubbed layers. Eve 6 also made liberal use of overdubbed vocals and other studio polish, such as the vocoded filigree directly preceding the breakdown section of “On The Roof” (from Horrorscope). The songs themselves generally conform to the late 90’s pop-punk aesthetic, and can be roughly divided into four different categories: the sugary-sweet bubblegum pop of “Rescue” and “Promise” (from Horrorscope), the punk of “Hokis” (from It’s All in Your Head) and “Superhero Girl” (from Eve 6), ballads, such as “Hey Montana” (from It’s All in Your Head) and “Here’s to the Night” (from Horrorscope), and anthems (characterized by beginning almost inaudibly, with sparse instrumentation, and ending climactically) such as “Arch Drive Goodbye” (from It’s All in Your Head).

Eve 6 was perhaps best known for its lyrics, however, which feature vivid imagery and inventive wordplay: two of the group’s hits, “Inside Out” (from their self-titled album) and “Promise” (from Horrorscope), are good examples of this style. The nostalgic ballad, “Here’s to the Night” is probably the most notable; it is characterized by a pleasant change in tempo and style from the band’s other songs. While the song was written about a one night stand, for many teenagers it was misinterpreted as a song about the closing of an era (specifically of high school), and was chosen by many graduating senior classes to be their “class song.”

Posted on May 11th, 2008 by Stamford CT Guru
Filed under: Bands