POP MUSIC REVIEW : Heyward at Roxy: A Nice Show

It was just a blip on the screen, but back in the early ‘80s--in the inevitable reaction to punk unruliness--came an English movement of clean-cut, nice-guy pop. The cleanest, nicest of the bunch was Nick Heyward, fronting the band Haircut One Hundred with his pearly whites, tennis sweater and the mildly pleasing, if totally inconsequential, demi-tropical pop of such hits as “Love Plus One” and “Fantastic Day.”

At the Roxy on Thursday, with a four-piece backing band in tow, he was still flashing the pearlies, although he traded in the sweater for a working-stiff T-shirt and the old sound for a slightly tauter, although still inconsequential, one. Well, better him than Duran Duran or Adam Ant--other KROQ relics in the comeback mode of late. At the very least, Heyward showed Thursday that he can write a hook. Several songs from his new “From Monday to Sunday” album veer toward Crowded House’s sweet-and-sour tone, and many could pass for latter-day Paul McCartney knockoffs.

And, to his credit, when it came time for reliving history, he didn’t stop at “Love Plus One” (the encore, naturally). He dove with contagious glee into his own childhood influences, from the opening song, the new “Caravan,” with its Jam references (and musical/lyrical quote from the Jam’s “In the City”), to two Beatles songs: a fine and less-than-obvious choice in a rocking “Dr. Robert” and the always hopeful “I’ve Got a Feeling.” Nice selections to round off a nice show by such a nice guy.