For The Vines, being heralded as ‘the next Nirvana’ could go either way.
It could be argued that describing Craig Nicholls as ‘the voice of a generation’ is perhaps a bridge too far – yet, with ‘Winning Days’, they certainly seem able to take such improbable expectation in their stride.
The songs are on the right side of hookish without feeling overly familiar. While working loosely within the formula that catapulted Highly Evolved into the stratosphere, this album is a little more sonically expansive and ambitious. The knowing, timeless song-writing takes the edge off the cheeky, youthful exuberance of the riotous, often shambolic guitars. Any band that can take the throbbing sounds of classic retro rock and infuse it with an irreverent, chaotic and downright sexy spin, is worthy of lofty praise indeed.
The album throws up a few pleasant surprises – ‘Autumn Shade II’, ‘Sunchild’ and ‘Winning days’ serve as pockets of beachy calm. Other than that, we’re generally talking something that sounds like ‘a schoolyard full of angry goats’ (their words, not mine).
So there you have it – The Vines are alive. Positive. Classic. And very fucking highly evolved indeed.