We all know the story: unknown band becomes famous overnight with their debut album then follows it up with such an abysmal release that they eventually fall right back into obscurity. Enter The Vines--an Australian band propelled onto to the top of every magazine's best new artists list with their 2002 debut Highly Evolved. Now they have released their follow-up album Winning Days. So have The Vines been able to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump? Well... sort of...
Winning Days can be thought of as an album with a split-personality. There are the excellent fast songs, such as "Ride" and "F--- the World," blending catchy guitars with the raw, growling vocals of Craig Nicholls, which are almost reminiscent of Kurt Cobain or Chris Cornell in his Soundgarden era. These are the songs that--though they may not be pop songs--still have the ability to get stuck in your head with their catchy choruses. Songs such as these build upon the formula established on Highly Evolved, yet intensify the aggression present on their debut. In listening to these songs, it seems like The Vines were able to beat the norm and release an excellent sophomore album.
Yet a good part of this release is also devoted to slower songs, without the growls and amp squeals present on the faster tracks. These songs are sluggish and plodding, often lacking memorable choruses.
Compared to the hisses and screams in the first set of songs, Nicholls' voice seems almost apathetic, droning on for a majority of each of the tracks. Perhaps if this second set had been a release in and of themselves, they would not have seemed so lacking, but when compared to the intensity of the album's faster cuts, the effort seems a bit lackluster. So while the Vines won't fade into obscurity with this release, they still have a ways to go to reach the level of superstardom predicted for them.
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