The Vines – Highly Evolved (Heavenly Records)

The Vines have already been burdened with the mantle of being the purveyors of ‘high octane rock ‘n’ roll’ whilst also being granted the status of being hailed not only as ‘the new Nirvana’, but also being ‘the future of rock ‘n’ roll !!’ All of which is utter tosh of course.

Not that The Vines are in anyway that bad, indeed, in places they are raw, exciting and capable of constructing barbed little radio friendly packages of two minute rock frenzy as exemplified by their debut single. Album title track ‘Highly Evolved’ and its follow up ‘Get Free’ are probably the only two tracks on the album that come anywhere near the Nirvana comparison. And therein lies the problem as those songs represent only four minutes out of forty-three on this album and if you are expecting more of the same, you’ll be in for a disappointment.

Instead, the bulk of the album is a fairly slow to mid paced blend of almost deconstructed Smashing Pumpkins as on ‘Autumn Shade’ or ‘1969’, and the drippy psychedelia of Oasis, at their most anthemic, on the likes of ‘Mary Jan’.

As a debut album, it is as confident as you`ll hear this year, and as the headlong adrenaline rush of their live shows already prove, they have much more to offer.

Meantime, approach this album by taking all of the hype with a pinch of salt and just let it stand up for itself – a decent selection of mostly strong songs from a young band that may well go on to earn some of the greatness already thrust upon them. 7.7/10

Brian Guthrie