Pop Music Reviews : Oasis Gives a New Face to Old Rock Thrills

Oasis has been heralded as the best band in Britain by the English rock press and was introduced Thursday at the Palace by KROQ’s Rodney Bingenheimer as “the best band in the universe.” When the band took the stage for its L.A. debut, the club didn’t levitate, the heavens didn’t part and the history of rock ‘n’ roll didn’t come to a crashing conclusion.

But the Manchester quintet did demonstrate that, unlike many other Next Big British Things before it, it’s a solidly talented band with a batch of prime, well-built rock tunes.

Singer Liam Gallagher occasionally snarled out his lyrics with a Rotten-esque flourish, but other than that there isn’t a scrap of punk in the band’s sound. Instead, it gives a new face to some old rock ‘n’ roll thrills, laying clean, simple melodies across steady, chunky chords and elevating the results into grand statements of lust, ennui, and--most of all--arch dissatisfaction.

Such winning songs as “Up in the Sky” and “Cigarettes & Alcohol” can evoke the Beatles, Stones, T. Rex, and Mott the Hoople at once, but the band adds enough personality to avoid coming off as rank nostalgists.

The band was resolutely calm on stage, standing stock-still in button-down shirts and plain trousers as it powered through the set. Gallagher often waggled his tambourine with a look of snotty disdain, though he did politely thank the crowd after every song.

With more strong material and a little staying power, the band may actually grow into some of its laurels.