The Vines

The Vines

The Vines live on stage 19 February 2004.
Background information
Origin Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres Alternative rock
Garage rock revival
Indie rock
Post-grunge[1][2]
Neo-psychedelia[3]
Years active 1999 - present
Labels Ivy League (2007 - Present)
BMG (2008)
Cooking Vinyl (2008 - Present)
Capitol Records (2001 - 2006)
Heavenly Records (2001 - 2006)
Website The Vines Official Website
Members
Craig Nicholls
Ryan Griffiths
Hamish Rosser
Brad Heald
Past members
David Oliffe
Patrick Matthews

The Vines are an Australian alternative rock band noted for producing a musical hybrid of '60s rock and '90s alternative music. Since 2006 their line-up has consisted of vocalist and lead guitarist Craig Nicholls, rhythm guitarist Ryan Griffiths, bassist Brad Heald and drummer Hamish Rosser.

They appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in October 2002 (the first Australian band to do so since Men at Work in 1983) with the words "Rock is Back: meet the Vines" boldly emblazoned underneath.[4] Referred to as the 'The' bands, The Strokes, The Hives, The White Stripes and The Vines combined "old fashioned punk and adrenaline fuelled riffs" to be ushered in at the beginning of 2002 as the "saviors of rock".[5]

The Vines have been moderately successful in the Australian recording industry, winning an ARIA in 2002 for Breakthrough Artist and receiving nominations for six other awards in as many years.[6] In 2003, their debut album Highly Evolved went double platinum in their home country of Australia,[7] and since then the band has released three albums and a "Best-Of" compilation from their time at Capitol Records. Their latest album Melodia was released on 12 July 2008 in Australia,[8] in the UK on 14 July, and in the USA on 22 July.

Contents

History

Formation and early years (1994 - 2000)

The original line-up came together in Sydney in 1994 when Craig Nicholls and Patrick Matthews met whilst working at their local McDonald's in South Hurstville, NSW. They began playing music together, with Nicholls on guitar and vocals and Matthews on bass. They were soon joined by Matthews' school friend David Olliffe on drums.[9] The band was originally named Rishikesh[10], as suggested by Olliffe, pertaining to the place in India where The Beatles had spent time in the 1960s. The local newspapers regularly misprinted the name as 'Rishi Chasms'[10], so Nicholls suggested the name The Vines, an homage to his father's fronting of a local Elvis cover-band called The Vynes. They started performing Nirvana and You Am I covers at backyard parties while developing their sound on Nicholls' four-track recorder.

Over the next few years, The Vines gigged infrequently and remained relatively unknown, even in their hometown, yet by the beginning of 2001 they had amassed a repertoire of over thirty songs.[9] On the strength of their demo, XL Recordings put out what was to be their first single, "Factory", as a limited seven-inch EP. The release became NME's Single of the Week in November 2001.[11]

Highly Evolved, fame and critical acclaim (2001 - 2003)

In July 2001, the band flew to Los Angeles to start recording their debut album, Highly Evolved, with Rob Schnapf. Recording was put on hold soon after, as funds ran low. David Oliffe decided to leave Los Angeles and return to Australia, due to the fast pace of events and pressure of recording. Recording continued a few months later as a result of increasing record company interest, and band had session drummers fill in including Joey Waronker of R.E.M. Once back in Australia, they started advertising for a new drummer in late 2001. Soon after, they recruited Hamish Rosser on drums and Nicholls' friend Ryan Griffiths on acoustic guitar.

Their first single "Factory", released in November 2001, attracted little interest in Australia. It gained a good response in the United Kingdom, with the NME describing their garage rock sound as "of the oldest school."[12] Record companies were still only considering the release of another EP, however Nicholls was adamant about making a full-length album, and went seeking record companies overseas. The Vines were eventually signed to Heavenly Records in the UK in December 2001 and EMI in Australia in April 2002. The single "Highly Evolved" earned them more critical acclaim as NME made it a single of the week in March 2002[13]. The single charted in the UK at #32 on the singles chart and on Australia's ARIAnet top 100 singles chart.

The release of the album saw more critical success with the band appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone[4] and NME. The album debuted at #3 in the UK's albums chart, #5 in Australia's ARIAnet albums chart, and #11 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 albums chart. The band played high-profile slots on The Late Show with David Letterman[14] and the MTV Video Music Awards. A few more singles were released from the album, including "Get Free" and "Outtathaway!". A fourth single, "Homesick", was released in Australia only. The band went on to win an ARIA Award for "Breakthrough Artist" for their single "Get Free" in 2003, and were nominated for "Best Group," "Best Rock Album," "Best Cover Art" and "Breakthrough Artist - Album." [6]Highly Evolved sold 1.5 million copies throughout the world with distribution through Capitol Records.[15]

In May 2003, the band went into a studio in Woodstock, New York with Rob Schnapf again on production. While Craig Nicholls had talked of having a highly produced album, he told the Australian edition of Rolling Stone in March 2004 that they decided to stick to a less-is-more philosophy. "I wanted it to be - in my head - something grand, with big ideas and that vision sort of thing. But at the same time, that doesn't mean that something can't be special if it's just simple. Because I think that the songs are the main thing".[16]

Winning Days (2004 - 2005)

Their second album, Winning Days, was released on 29 March 2004 and debuted at #7 in Australia, #23 in the US and #29 in the UK. The Vines had recently finished their "Australian Invasion" tour with Jet and The Living End, which started on 11 March 2004 in Houston, Texas. "Ride" and "Winning Days" were taken from the album and released as singles in Australia (where it did not chart) and the UK. There was speculation that "Animal Machine" would have been the next American single, and early American promotional flats for the album note this. However, there was no American follow-up to "Ride". The song was featured on a Nissan Cars commercial and an iPod commercial in the US in 2005.[17], and was featured on season one of the FOX show The O.C. The Vines were featured in The WB television network's image campaign for the 2004-2005 season.

After the conclusion of the Winning Days tour, the band found itself in difficulty. Winning Days had not lived up to the success of Highly Evolved, and had received a generally lukewarm reception from both critics and audiences. Lead singer Nicholls was becoming increasingly erratic, and had to be barred from doing media interviews after several bad experiences on the American tour.

Things came to a head in late May 2004, when bassist Patrick Matthews walked off stage, after Craig shouted at the crowd, calling them sheep, in frustration after repeatedly asking the crowd to stop talking during the first song of a radio promotion performance for national station Triple M at the Annandale Hotel in Sydney. In the aftermath, Nicholls assaulted a photographer, and charges were pressed. After the incident the band's management stated that the Vines would cease touring in support of Winning Days and would record another studio album.

Vision Valley and a return to the stage (2006 - 2007)

In mid 2005, the group announced they were working on their third album with producer Wayne Connolly. Andy Kent of fellow Australian band, You Am I, filled in on bass playing duties. In November of that year, the band's management announced they had finished recording all the songs that would appear on the album. Mixing and mastering of the tracks commenced January 2006. In mid December 2005, the song "Gross Out" was leaked onto the internet. Although the song was as yet untitled and unfinished, it contained guide vocals and instruments. The band's manager asked for the song to be taken down from the blog it was found on, and drummer Hamish Rosser issued a statement on the band's fan club forum asking fans not to post or distribute the song on the internet.

"Don't Listen to the Radio" was released as the album's first single and was made available for digital download on 7 March on iTunes. The song was used on the soundtrack for the video game, FlatOut 2. "Gross Out" was made available for digital download on 18 March, and was the first song leaked from the album. Vision Valley was released on 1 April 2006 in Australia, 3 April in Europe and 4 April in the United States.

Vision Valley consisted of short, immediate songs; the album running little over 30 minutes in length. "Anysound" was the second official single from the album, and an animated music video was released exclusively through YouTube. "Dope Train" was released as a third single, with a music video composed of live footage of the band from Big Day Out in 2007.

On 19 July 2006, The Vines played a gig at the Annandale Hotel under the name "Joe Dirt" with a new bassist, Brad Heald, former bassist Patrick Matthews having departed the group for Australian alternative band Youth Group. They announced to their official fan club website, Dreamin The Insane, that they are ready to perform again and are going to schedule shows "any day now."

On 23 July, the band appeared as a mystery guest at the Splendour in the Grass festival, Byron Bay. September 2006 saw The Vines perform at their own shows for the first time in two years. The Vines played in two venues in Sydney and Melbourne.

The Vines played in the Big Top as part of the Homebake festival in December 2006. In early February 2007, the band completed their Big Day Out performances to strong and positive press reviews. Frontman Craig Nicholls praised the audience and fans throughout the festival tour, thanking them for "sticking with the band" during the tough times the band had faced preceding the incident at the Annandale Hotel on 14 May 2004.

Melodia (2008)

After the limited commercial success of Vision Valley, The Vines were subsequently dropped by their record labels Capitol Records, EMI and Heavenly Records in Mid-2007. All of the labels are owned by EMI which was bought out by Terra Firma Capital Partners in mid-2007. The new owners restructured the label and dropped bands from their roster that they considered to be underperforming in the album sales department. Shortly after however the band was picked up by Ivy League Records run by the bands management Winterman & Goldstein for an Australian record deal.

Once a budget was finalized by Ivy League Records for their forthcoming album, The Vines returned to the recording studio in mid-November 2007, with Highly Evolved and Winning Days producer Rob Schnapf in Los Angeles to begin recording Melodia.

Bass and Drum track recordings for 15 songs that were considered for inclusion on the forthcoming album were completed in December 2007 during a 5 day recording stint. In March 2008, NME reported that The Vines fourth studio album had been completed during the week of March the 3rd, 2008 to March the 10th, 2008 with a tentative release date of June, 2008.

After completing Melodia in early March, the Vines played the South By South West festival in Austin, Texas showcasing new material. They played small venues during this time. On the 23rd of May 2008, it was announced officially that The Vines' new album was to be released on the 12th of July and would be titled 'Melodia'. The first single preceding the release was to be 'He's A Rocker', which was released through iTunes on the 3rd of June, 2008 along with two bonus tracks. MerryGoRound was released as a follow-up single for radio airplay in Australia during August 2008. MerryGoRound only received support and backing from Triple J radio. Get Out was released as the third single from Melodia in September 2008 for radio airplay and a music video was released to coincide with the release of Get Out as a single by Ivy League Records on Youtube. Get Out was featured on the in-game soundtrack of Midnight Club: Los Angeles released in late October 2008 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gaming platforms.

In October 2008, The Vines commenced a national Australian tour in support of Melodia playing small venues across major cities throughout Australia including The Metro Theatre (Sydney), ANU Bar (Canberra), The HiFi Bar (Melbourne), The Great Northern Bar (Byron Bay), The Tivoli (Brisbane), The Governor Hindmarsh (Adelaide), and The Rosemount Hotel (Perth).

In November 2008, The Vines were announced as being part of the lineup for the 2009 Australian Big Day Out but on 14 November the band cancelled all forthcoming live appearances, including Homebake 2008 and their Japanese tour citing the deterioration of Nicholls' mental health during the course of their October tour in Australia as the reason.[18]

5th album (2009 - Present)

Photos surfaced on The Vines official forum, showing Nicholls "recording demos for the new album". The photos, posted by Nicholls' sister, show Craig with an acoustic guitar and what appears to be a 4-track cassette recorder.[19]

On the 14th of November 2009, The Vines played at the Annandale Hotel, under the alias of The Crimes. They had a support slot with You Am I, playing their back catalogue and a new song from an album due in 2010.[20]

The Vines officially stepped out of pre-production and started to record the 5th album in Feb 2010. The album recording was completely finished in mid March, with mixing taking place in Sydney at the end of March and mastering taking place in early April. A release date is still to be announced. [21]

The band has been confirmed to be in the lineup for Splendour In The Grass 2010 as well as supporting Powderfinger at the first four shows of their farewell tour.

The Vines debuted new songs, "Future Primitive", "Gimme Love" and "Black Dragon" at the Annandale Hotel on June 23.

The Vines performed at the Singfest, Singapore music festival on 5th August.

Musical style

The Vines' musical style can generally be categorized as alternative/garage rock. Much of the band's early grungy sound can be attributed to their beginnings as a Nirvana cover band.

“ Unlike many other pop post-modernists, the Vines never sound weighed down by all the influences they include in their music -- it's as if they're so excited by everything they hear, they can't help but recombine it in unique ways. ”
 
— Heather Phares, Allmusic, 15 April 2004.[22]

Ex-bassist Matthews believed that Winning Days was a step in a different direction for the band. "The themes are more introspective and less wild rock'n'roll."[15]

Reception

Upon the release of their debut album, The Vines were hailed as “the second coming of Nirvana" by the British press; their post-grunge/garage sound was considered reminiscent of the Seattle scene circa ’91, and Nicholls' erratic on stage behavior, and raw vocals drew comparisons between him and Kurt Cobain.[23][24][25] Highly Evolved, became a huge success and their accompanying live shows in the early years were praised as "electrifying" and "sensational".[26]

Critical reactions to 2004's Winning Days were mixed. Pitchfork Media's Chris Ott described it as being "nothing more than boring and harmlessly vapid" and showing "only mild promise".[26] Conversely, Rolling Stone's Fricke said "it was a leap forward in style and frenzy."[27]

Activism

In 2006, The Vines created a decorated heart card to benefit People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.[28] In 2007, the group joined the organization in calling for an end to Canada's seal hunt.[29]

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Rhapsody. "List of post-grunge bands at Rhapsody". http://www.rhapsody.com/charts?cat=artist&category=genre&genreId=316. Retrieved 2008-11-02. 
  2. ↑ AllMusic.com. "Band review and styles definition at AllMusic.com". http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kjfpxq9jldfe. Retrieved 2008-11-02. 
  3. ↑ Keene, Darrin (17 May 2002). "Live: The Vines". Live at the Tequila Lounge. ChartAttack.com 'Your Canadian Music Source'. http://web.archive.org/web/20030429204713/http://www.chartattack.com/damn/PrintThis.cfm?ID=2002052113. Retrieved 2008-04-14. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sheffield, Rob (6 August 2002). "The Vines". Craig Nicholls has all the makings of a rock star. Rolling Stone Magazine. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/the_vines_craig_nicholls. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
  5. ↑ Schlauch, Jeff (13 February 2003). "Retro rock rules airwaves". Bands like The Hives and The Strokes are proclaimed rock saviors. The Equinox. http://media.www.keeneequinox.com/media/storage/paper537/news/2003/02/13/AE/Retro.Rock.Rules.Airwaves-367545.shtml. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "ARIA Awards 2002". Australian Recording Industry Association. 6 June 2002. http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history-by-artist.php?letter=V&artist=Vines%20%20The. Retrieved 2008-04-14. 
  7. ↑ "ARIA Charts Accreditations 2003". Australian Recording Industry Association. 20 January 2004. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-accreditations-albums-2003.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-14. 
  8. ↑ O'Gorman, Ross (3 April 2008). "The Vines Go WIth He's A Rocker". undercover.com.au. http://www.undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=4440. Retrieved 2008-04-14. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "The Vines - guest program". abc.net.au/rage. http://www.abc.net.au/rage/guest/2002/vines.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Diehl, Matt (23 September 2002). "Brief Article - Interview". Matt Diehl speaks to Craig Nicholls and Patrick Matthews (Brant Publications, Inc). http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_/ai_89388748. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
  11. ↑ "Singles of the Week from 2001". NME. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/2001.htm#Singles/. Retrieved 2008-04-14. 
  12. ↑ Robinson, John (30 October 2001). "http://www.nme.com/reviews/the-vines/5781". NME article about the Vines' first single.. New Musical Express. http://www.nme.com/reviews/the-vines/5781. Retrieved 2008-04-17. 
  13. ↑ "2002 NME Single of the Week Chart". NME Magazine. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/2002.htm#Singles. Retrieved 2008-04-14. 
  14. ↑ "Vines in a tangle". Sydney Morning Herald. 5 June 2004. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/04/1086203619093.html. Retrieved 2008-04-14. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Whither the Vines". Melbourne: The Age. 22 May 2004. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/19/1084917644783.html. Retrieved 2008-04-14. 
  16. ↑ "Winning Days". Rolling Stone Magazine (Australian Edition). March 2004. 
  17. ↑ "Songs from the iPod Commercials". MacSupport.ca. http://www.macsupport.ca/2007/02/04/songs-from-ipod-commercials/. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
  18. ↑ http://thevines.com/home
  19. ↑ http://thevines.forumsunlimited.com/index.php?showtopic=6180/
  20. ↑ http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/news/local/21381/The-Vines-stage-a-comeback.htm
  21. ↑ http://thevines.forumsunlimited.com/index.php?showtopic=6286&st=0
  22. ↑ Phares, Heather (15 April 2004). "Highly Evolved > Overview". Review of Highly Evolved. Allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fnfuxqu0ld6e. Retrieved 2008-04-16. 
  23. ↑ Oldham, James (15 April 2004). "Highly Evolved: Track Reviews". Our single of the week is a record you must own.... New Musical Express. http://www.nme.com/reviews/the-vines/6208. Retrieved 2008-04-16. 
  24. ↑ Usinger, Mike (15 April 2004). "Vines Show Growth". Craig The Prolific Australian Bad Boys Move Beyond Rawk With Their Second Recording, Winning Days. Straight.com, Vancouver’s source for music.. http://www.straight.com/article/vines-show-growth. Retrieved 2008-04-16. 
  25. ↑ Holmes, Peter (30 July 2002). "Fruit of the Vines". From the party and pub scene of Sydney, Peter Holmes tracks our climbing Vines. (The Sun-Herald). http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/29/1027926854154.html. Retrieved 2008-04-16. 
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Oldham, James (30 July 2002). "The Vines: Brighton Freebutt". Without question, The Vines are going to be this year's Strokes.... New Musical Express. http://www.nme.com/reviews/the-vines/6172. Retrieved 2008-04-17. 
  27. ↑ Fricke, David (1 April 2004). "Winning Days". Winning Days – A review of the album. Rolling Stone Magazine.. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/5198094/winning_days. Retrieved 2008-04-16. 
  28. ↑ www.nme.com
  29. ↑ Jet and The Vines join PETA against seal slaughter; Star Pulse, 15 March 2007

External links

The Vines

Craig Nicholls · Ryan Griffiths · Hamish Rosser · Brad Heald
David Olliffe · Patrick Matthews
Studio releases

Highly Evolved · Winning Days · Vision Valley · Melodia
Other albums

Five Track Demo · Six Track Demo · Mixes · This is Not the Vines Album · College EP · The Best of The Vines
Singles

"Hot Leather/Sunchild" · "Factory" · "Highly Evolved" · "Get Free" · "Outtathaway!" · "Homesick" · "Fuck The World" · "Ride" · "Winning Days" · "Gross Out" (Radio-promo only) · "Don't Listen to the Radio" · "Anysound" · "Dope Train" (Video-promo only) · "He's a Rocker" · "MerryGoRound (Australian Radio-promo only)" · "Get Out"
Related articles

Discography · Ivy League · Garage rock revival