Spiv—N. : (British slang) 1. one who uses their wits to avoid a real job, 2. a person without employment who makes money by various schemes; goes about smartly dressed and having a good time. 3. A rock and roll band.
Spiv plays power pop rock and roll with vocals and grooves infused with some wild mojo: a mix of white soul, punk anthems, bitter ballads and straight ahead pop rock and humor in the vein of Camper Van Beethoven and Primus. Calling the sound ‘Brit-pop voodoo’, Spiv’s style is as diverse as it is creative, infusing solid musicianship with well crafted songsmithing. Spiv creates memorable melodies to deliver unpretentious social commentaries and songs about love and life’s unpredictability, sometimes sincere and other times drenched in satire. Their albums are produced with the radio and short attention spans in mind, delivering short bursts; most are tight arrangements averaging three minutes. In a live setting, they free themselves to push the boundaries of musical exploration and improvisation.

Spiv defies categorization by drawing on all past musical experiences and exposures as an influence. Although they don’t incorporate much Gamelan or Polynesian polyrhythms into their show, they have nonetheless been exposed to so many styles that have all somehow made their way into the mix that many of their records end up sounding like a compilation album. The somewhat schizo nature of this puts them in a hard to define category, but in a good way. Let’s just call it alternative rock.