ON BROTHERS AND BLOSSOMS : The Opening Act at the Rhythm Cafe Could Turn Nevilles Fans Onto Something New

In establishing themselves as the best, most diverse R&B; band of the ‘80s and beyond, the Neville Brothers of New Orleans have applied their gift for rhythm and harmony to everything from folk-period Bob Dylan to reggae, gospel, contemporary hip-hop and the traditional New Orleans funk that is their signature style.

But despite their extensive reach, there is no apparent point of intersection between what the Nevilles have been doing for the past 15 years and the earnest, melodic guitar rock you’ll hear from Gin Blossoms, the young band from Tempe, Ariz., that has been opening recent shows for them.

Gin Blossoms doesn’t stray too far from the path of R.E.M., Miracle Legion and many other melodic guitar bands that have jangled and harmonized their way into the consciousness of college radio listeners. Gin Blossoms assuredly does not play funk. But, judging from the winning songs about being young and emotionally adrift that form the crux of the band’s album, “New Miserable Experience,” it probably helps the creative process if its songwriters are in a funk.

It’s an album that listeners going through the tribulations of adolescent and post-adolescent love might find comforting. As the title implies, a good deal of “New Miserable Experience” is about the loss of innocence that comes with having a first-love blow up in one’s face--either because of the romantic object’s inconstancy or, more often, the singer’s own shortcomings.

The band’s perpetually wistful, Roger McGuinn-ish singer, Robin Wilson, taps into a deep well of regret. For much of the album, Wilson, who shared the songwriting with guitarists Jesse Valenzuela and Doug Hopkins (who since has left the band), sounds convinced that he’ll never get over the loss of that One Big Love, and that he’s doomed to a life of empty partying to dull the pain of loneliness and alienation (alcohol flows freely through the aptly-named Gin Blossoms’ lyrics, as characters try to drown sorrows or boredom but don’t derive much pleasure from their boozing).

CONCERT FOR THE CRAVENS

Guitar and vocal soloist Robin Gable is providing a little help for a friend. Page 18

But by the end of “New Miserable Experience,” Gin Blossoms’ protagonists have survived the most fragile moments of sundered adolescent innocence and have found a way to move forward into a world of adult experience where one makes the best of an imperfect setup.

“So hang your hopes on rusted-out hinges, take ‘em for a ride,” Wilson sings affirmatively, having traveled through the door of experience and learned to accept that it’s usually going to creak. The closing song, a country tune called “Cheatin’,” finds the singer in danger of screwing up yet another relationship, but keeping his sense of humor about the situation. Apparently he’s discovered that you have to expect a few miserable experiences along the road to maybe one day getting romance right.

Touring opportunities are few these days for emerging bands, and Gin Blossoms’ unlikely pairing with the Nevilles probably has something to do with the fact that both groups record for A&M; and have the same manager.

The Nevilles’ 1992 album, “Family Groove,” came with a dedication to the late Bill Graham, whose company manages both bands. As far back as the late ‘60s, Graham was known for promoting mix-and-match bills that hooked up stylistically incongruous acts. He might have liked this current pairing that, if it works, will let Nevilles’ fans discover something new and worthwhile in a sector of music they might not have paid much attention to before.

The Neville Brothers’ own mix-and-match tendencies seldom have been more apparent than on “Family Groove.” Fans devoted to the brothers’ most deeply rooted and traditional New Orleans funk style might be put off by the album’s polish and its apparent eye on putting the band over the commercial top with a chart hit.

In that respect, “Family Groove” is a successor to “Uptown,” the less-than-satisfying 1987 album in which the Nevilles tried to recast themselves from a roots band to a mainstream R&B; contender. But this time, the tilt toward the mainstream doesn’t throw them off balance artistically.

“Family Groove” is informed by passions that go far beyond the lust for a buck. Exhibit A is the album-opening cover of the Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like An Eagle.” Cyril Neville’s fiery soul vocal shakes off the layers of dust that have gathered on this musty staple of classic rock radio, giving the song a rebirth as an urgent call for social change. The Nevilles force you to reconsider meanings in a song that familiarity has conditioned us to hum without a thought.

In any case, like “Uptown,” “Family Groove” didn’t hit the jackpot for the Nevilles, failing to crack the Billboard Top 100 after its release last spring. This is a band apparently fated to life as a hard-working touring act--something that the brothers, all in their 40s and 50s, are now accustomed to. If nothing else, “Family Groove” allowed Art, Aaron, Cyril and Charles Neville, plus their crack rhythm section, to show their impressive command of the R&B; lexicon.

“I Can See It in Your Eyes” has the clean snap and tension of prime, early ‘70s Al Green; “Family Groove” hits with heavy funk a la Sly & the Family Stone, and several churning tracks recall the Temptations in their psychedelic-influenced “Ball of Confusion” period.

Add a few hip-hop accents that don’t sound intrusive, some dips into reggae and Caribbean sounds, and you’ve got a wide-ranging, appealing album, even if it hardly brings into play the Nevilles’ strongest suit, the buoyant Mardi Gras parade beats of their home town.