Codell Rodriguez
Daily Egyptian
This could quite possibly be the best thing to come out of McDonald's since greasy fries.
Craig Nicholls, Patrick Mathews and David Olliffe met while working in a Sydney, Australia, McDonald's and shared a taste in music in The Vynes, which featured Nicholls' father. Nicholls (guitar/vocals), Matthews (bass/backup vocals) and Olliffe (drums) made their own band and named it after the one that brought them together, only with the correct spelling. Now the group has released its first album, "Highly Evolved," and rock enthusiasts can shed a tear because these guys kick arse.
Just when it seemed rock was making a comeback, The Vines confirmed it. The album is a perfect mix of soft ballads that make listeners feel like closing their eyes and swaying in a hypnotic trance, and harder tunes that will make them want to jump up and down and scream about everything that's pissing them off.
Nicholls has a voice that can cater to any audience. In song's such as "Outtathaway," he resembles Howlin' Pelle Almqvist of The Hives with his raw scream, but he still manages to pull off a voice that could accompany Fran Healy of Travis (not near as soft and folksy as Fran's though) on songs such as "Autumn Shade," and then still manages to hit a Julian Casablancas from The Strokes in between.
What is more similar to Travis on the songs such as "Autumn Shade" is the lyrics. They have a nice soft, poetic sound to them.
"Slip into the autumn shade/ I could sleep for days/ But I like the Sun when/ I can hear another sound/ It's a long way down/ Keep my head up."
New Musical Express called The Vines "a perfect synthesis of The Beatles and Nirvana." That pretty much nails it. On their first release, band mates keep the variety that made the work of legendary bands such as The Beatles and Nirvana so easy to get into and stay with the album from beginning to end.
The songs alternate between fast and slow almost every time. It's almost like they're rocking the listener out and then giving them a song that says, "Calm down for a few minutes, because we have another energetic track on the way."
But the majority of The Vines' style is similar to The Beatles. This shows the strongest with the song "Factory." The track has such a "Yellow Submarine" quality to it that it could be placed on "Revolver" and not screw up the pace or sound.
If this band can keep up the quality found on "Highly Evolved," The Vines are going to go Ivy League.
Codell Rodriguez can be reached at crodriguez@dailyegyptian.com.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
