Review of 'highly Evolved - the Vines'

While they may be tangled in controversy, there's nothing primitive about The Vines' debut album 'Highly Evolved'. There are many instances throughout the album where resemblances of Nirvana, The Beatles and others can be heard, however there is truly a 'Vines' sound present. The Aussie rock band assembled when Craig Nicholls, David Oliffe and Patrick Matthews met each other while working in a local McDonalds. They all shared the same taste and passion for music so they formed a local band that played at parties and pubs. The name 'The Vines' originated from a band that Nicholls' father was in titled 'The Vynes'. Originally the band only performed covers of Nirvana songs until Nicholls decided to start writing a few of his own. After success in both Australia and in the UK, they released the exceedingly praised debut album, 'Highly Evolved'.

After three tours and a second album release ('Winning Days'), the band was asked to perform at a 'Triple M' radio promotion. However, just before their performance, Nicholls became frustrated and eventually yelled and insulted the crowd because they wouldn't stop talking, this leading to Matthews walking off stage. After this incident, 'Triple M' refused to play any of The Vines' songs on their network. While the band broke up losing Matthews and Oliffe, it reformed rather fast with the entrance of Ryan Griffiths and Hamish Rosser. On November 19, 2004, Nicholls was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome (a mutated form of autism). This is believed to explain his outburst at the radio promotion.

The first song on the album (conveniently titled 'Highly Evolved') presents us with the first insight into The Vines' style of grunge-rock. The easy paced lyrics and reasonably simple tune, accompanied by the semi-heavy electric guitar, provides the perfect combination to introduce us to the album and band. The only downside to the short and sweet song would be that Nicholls' vocals could be easily mistaken for that of the lead singer of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain and the tune does nothing but clone the 'sound' that Nirvana gave us as far back as fifteen years ago.

Mid way through the album, I came across the song 'Country Yard' which provides a great contrast to the fast paced, garage-band sound. Listening to this track immediately calms