The Vines - 'Winning Days' (Heavenly)
4/5
By: Toby L
Bongs, Big-Macs and psychosis; yes, in true rock 'n' roll fashion, amidst the ascendance, more talked about than their actual music were all the surrounding tales of The Vines' chipper, short-arsed, kid-like leader Craig Nicholls.
Yet, aside from the evident emergence of a true visionary/stoner burger-muncher in the group's phenomenal rise have been truly admirable, accompanying successes - namely, the Aussie quartet's acclaimed debut-LP of 2002 - 'Highly Evolved' - which has scaled no fewer than a couple of million sales. The trouble, customarily, however: more heated and convoluted than the norm, the band's precedence has deftly divided critics and fans to new, heady heights... The leaps into the drumkit during live-performances - contrived? The Vines merely regurgitating Nirvana-styled riffage to sure-fire, easy-alt-listening MTV-rotation - commercial sell-outs?
Whatever the case, it's now make-your-mind-up time. Anyone pensively considering 'Highly...' as a one-off classic, prepare to either gag or brag, for 'Winning Days' is... more of the same.
So, it'd be erroneous to emphasise any 'tremendous leap' or bountiful, inspired 'change of direction' with The Vines' second record, because we simply don't have either. But what we do possess - Beatles-invoking, harmonic pop songs of a truly rich, invigorating paranoia, where the only common threads are simple, play-along chord-progressions, occasional, hard-edged mood-swings, shimmering, reverb-y solos and Nicholls' ever-impressing wail and yell: one so untidily, awkwardly, wonderfully forward this time around one could misconstrue that the noisy bastard is bellowing into your cranium stood just one inch away (that'd be via producer Rob Schnapf's sterling effort, then).
Musically, despite the straightforwardness, The Vines seldom strike mundane. There's something instantly charismatic about their formula - particularly, the lack of any form of mind-boggling pretence; these are songs designed to be instantly taken to, boasting just enough of a dextrous depth and sheen to remain repeat-listenable. Opener 'Ride' sets the tone all too perfectly - a beat-pop verse-sequence with a fidgety bass-line, a discordant, distortion-enlaced deluxo of a chorus, and an abrupt ending, a la the previous record's title-track beginner. A fine start, with an even better series of follow-on's - the stomping, entwining drama of 'Animal Machine'; the glorious 'na na na na' bellows and ragged, trippy, speed-up/slow-down romping of 'TV Pro'; and elegant acoustic slump of 'Autumn Shade II'.
When it gets messy (the grappling anguish of a tawdry 'Evil Town'), the product is still thrilling, and even when criminally basic - the 60s-shimmy of 'She's Got Something To Say' - The Vines continue to glow with infectious charm. And what with the more timid, ambient, dappled offerings comprising the album's dying moments - in succession: the compelling 'Rainfall'; hypnotically repetitious 'Amnesia'; and original-b-side-given-a-kick-up-the-backside 'Sun Child' (an unquestionable, country-ish, lo-fi standout) - building to a beauteous crux, the climax of 'F**k The World' couldn't be more ardent. A booming bass-part, led by Patrick Matthews, acidic, sneering vocals from Craig, and drums from Hamish Rosser that'll push you to the edge, this is the quite splendid follow-up to 'Song 2' we've all been waiting for the last seven years.
Barely a forty-minute experience in total, and indebted heavily to the classic Brit/US indie-rock bands of our time, perilous precision, and - naturally - a quite stealthy obsession with weed, The Vines continue their pledge to highly evolve, yet without the notion of at any instance actually revolving themselves. Winning days, and winning ways, indeed.
Artists in this article: The Vines
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