The Verve Ably Demonstrates Craft and Charisma

Thanks in part to its close ties to Oasis, the Verve’s new “Urban Hymns” album sold 250,000 copies its first week in England--the fifth-highest first-week total ever there.

But Noel Gallagher’s endorsement doesn’t help the British band much in the United States, where Oasis itself is still viewed with skepticism by much of the rock audience.

Fortunately, the Verve has another ace up its sleeve: its music.

In its best moments, the Verve showed that it has the craft and the charisma to join Oasis and a cadre of other British bands that are restoring substance and imagination to a pop-rock scene that has become dominated in the U.S. by novelty and flash.

The quintet’s calling card on record and on stage Monday at the sold-out Mayan Theatre was “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” one of the most striking singles of the year. The song, which is built around a sample of a ‘60s orchestral version of the Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time,” is an ideal introduction to the band’s outlook.

Where Oasis’ music invigorates you as surely as morning sunshine, the Verve’s tunes convey the mystery and melancholy stillness of after midnight.

In keeping with the tone of the music, the band performed in semi-darkness during its 90-minute show at the Mayan, where it was also scheduled to play on Tuesday.

At their best, singer Richard Ashcroft’s lyrics are a compelling attempt to reconcile unbending faith with the lingering scars of past mistakes and the fear that they can be repeated.

At times, as in “This Is Music,” an older song the group performed early in the show, Ashcroft expresses an optimism that is as grand as Mike Scott’s in his early days with the Waterboys. Most of the group’s songs, however, are more guarded.

*

Unlike so much of ‘90s rock, the enemy in the Verve’s music isn’t outside forces. In most cases, the focus is on inner contradictions and complexities, including the lure of obsessions, among them drugs. As Ashcroft sings in “Bitter Sweet Symphony”: “I’m a million different people from one day to the next.”

Though the group had two earlier albums, it’s in “Urban Hymns” that the music comes together most convincingly. And don’t let the catchy Stones sample mislead you into thinking the appeal of “Bitter Sweet” is a fluke. The most memorable Verve songs, including “Sonnet,” “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Space and Time,” exhibit a winning sense of melody, whether the tone is alluring or anxious.

But it did take a while for the band to connect at the Mayan. Ashcroft has the lean, poster-boy good looks of Oasis’ Liam Gallagher, and even a touch of his swagger. But the Verve leader is a far more gracious frontman. He seems to actually like the fans rather than scowl at them, as Gallagher did on his early visits here.

The emphasis on musical force during the first few numbers sacrificed much of the nuance and character of the songs. About all you could hear through the roar of instrumentation was the fierce pounding of the drums.

Eventually, however, the Verve toned things down enough to let the natural beauty of the music surface in song after song. At the end of the set, the band turned up the intensity again with “Come On,” a song that seemed like a final, invigorating pep talk before everybody went back into the real world.