VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the '90's" leaving you longing for the days when polished mainstream rock bands like Matchbox Twenty and Third Eye Blind were all the rage? Well, look no further than The Spill Canvas, a South Dakota emo-tinged pop/ rock outfit fronted by songwriter/ producer Nick Thomas. "All Over You", the first single from the band's major label full length debut, No Really, I'm Fine offers a welcome throwback to those pre-Nickelback days with it's hooky chorus and perfectly-placed guitars.

An earnest plea to have old lover back in his arms again, "All Over You" finds Nick moaning on the sidelines while the one he longs for moves on to some hot new beau. "Yeah he's a looker," Thomas admits, "But I really think it's guts that matter most". The heart-pouring lyricism featured in the verses are familiar poetics cut straight out of the "Emo For Dummies" playbook ("I am easily make believe/ Just dress me up in what you want me to be"), but the soaring chorus gleams with the kind of pop finesse that assures many alone-in-car sing-alongs. One listen to "I gotta feel you in my arms again/ I'm all over you/ I'm not over you/ I wanna taste you one more time again", and The Spill Canvas have instantly taken your brain hostage, trapping you within it's toe-tapping briskness and repetitive, easy-to-relate yearn.

Like so many similar-sounding bands of the previous decade, "All Over You" doesn't contain enough of a "wow factor" to make you care to remember the band's name, much less go out and buy their album, (not at first, at least) but you will feel an urge to play the song over and over again, anxiously awaiting that shiny hook to invade your subconscious yet again. Look for VH1 to try with all their might to make them a household name in the '08.



DL: "All Over You" (YFH)