Ah, yes. Put the new Apples In Stereo album, Tone Soul Evolution, in your CD player, and the first thing you hear is...Paul McCartney? Of course not, you silly. But it might as well be. The Apples' stock in trade is very, very Beatlesque pop, full of jangling guitars, buzzing George Harrison solos and carefully crafted vocal harmonies. Of course, Apples In Stereo isn't the first (or the last) band to worship shamelessly at the Beatles altar. Oasis, for one, has made a rather nice career by recycling classic Beatles melodies and lyrical themes. But Apples In Stereo takes the game one step further. Unfortunately, when your source of inspiration is arguably the most important and influential musical group ever, it's difficult to measure up. Of course, on the flip side, it's hard to go entirely wrong. This is ultimately where the Apples end up: they're good, they write good songs, but few of them are likely to stick with you years from now.

The sumptuous pop hooks of songs like "What's the #?" and "We'll Come to Be" stick, and the subtle contrast between the jingle-jangle melodies and crunchy feedback within songs like "Seems So" is terrific. "We'll Come to Be," one of the standout tracks on the album, will have your head bopping in the proper Liverpudlian fashion. Head Apple Robert Schneider makes writing classic '60s pop songs sound effortless--he writes songs that, like the Beatles' best, transcend their short length and pull you into the music. Many of these tracks will stay in your head, leaving you humming the chorus on your way to class, annoying passers-by. So what's the problem? The problem is that there is no problem: Tone Soul Evolution is a fine CD, without any real weaknesses, but it lacks the spark, innovation and contrast that mark great albums from the simply decent. Chances are that years from now, more often than not, it will lose out to the White Album or Abbey Road.

At times, the Beatles resemblance becomes almost too much to handle. "We'll Come to Be" sounds like it's a lost track from Rubber Soul and "Coda" is right off Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band. Lead singer Schneider's voice is eerily like a combination of Lennon and McCartney. Songs like "Find Our Way" use muted horn and string parts a la Beatles classics such as "Got to Get You Into My Life." Let us not forget that Apple was the name of the Beatles' record company. Coincidence? You make the call. But the Beatles aren't the only Apples influences. "You Said That Last Night," "Get There Fine" and "Silver Chain" are straight from the school of Pavement. "You Said That Last Night" casually tosses in some surf guitar for good measure. And with the first part of "Silvery Light of a Dream," Apples In Stereo crafts sonic collages unlike anything those Liverpool lads ever made.

Lyrically, Tone Soul Evolution deals with the timeless topics of pop music: love, doubt, betrayal, hope--in other words, the usual. The only difference is that, as befits the '90s, the subjects of songs are often fairly ambiguous. "Seems So" details the story of an eerie night-time UFO-ish episode, without revealing much of what actually happened. "Find Our Way" mentions a relationship and its past, but doesn't allow the listener to find out anything other than "Maybe we'll find our way." But Schneider's sardonic, often ambiguous, delivery allows potential cheese-o lines like "Headed home for the night/you go for a ride/the show went fine/it started on time" to come out sounding sincere instead of corny.

Of course, no matter what the Beatles sang about, they always sang like they meant it--a statement that the Apples In Stereo can't claim. Clever lyrics are hurt as often as helped from Schneider's laid back attitude. Imagine Lennon and McCartney singing while strung out on acid and mescaline, and you get the idea. Too often, instead of sounding cool, Schneider simply sounds anemic, like his heart beats at about the half the rate of a normal person. When he and his fellow co-vocalists really lay into a song, like the catchy "We'll Come to Be," the results get much more interesting.

The real question is, when would you listen to Tone Soul Evolution? The answer, of course, is after you've listened to Revolver for the umpteenth time, once again damned Yoko Ono and Wings and cursed God that the Beatles ever broke up. Oasis, look out. With the release of Tone Soul Evolution, Apples In Stereo has the leg up in the Beatles sound-alike competition.