When The Vines first cock-walked onto the scene in 2001, they were handed the mission of saving rock and roll along with bands like The Strokes and The Hives. Now, a few years later, the trio from Australia has a more personal task– saving themselves! For awhile, it looked doubtful they would achieve their goal as the rockers suffered some serious setbacks. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Craig Nicholls was charged with assault after an onstage fiasco and was then diagnosed with a mild form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. Original bass player Patrick Matthews had enough and said, “See ya!”
But somehow, The Vines have managed to return with a new record called Vision Valley. Full of raw rock songs and moody ballads, it’s undeniably the album this particular band had to make at this particular time. Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good.
Clocking in at a lean 31 minutes and offering up 13 tracks, Vision Valley is an uneven fury blast that retreats as quickly as it attacks. The opening song “Anysound”, which sounds like something Paul, George and Ringo might have cooked up to release tension after John and Yoko left the studio, leaps right away into autobiographical territory with lyrics like “I am a vine / All twisted and frayed. It’s one of many tunes that hit on life’s cruel twists of fate, without adding anything terribly new to the genre.
The other tone of the album is all about mood or should I say – moodiness. It’s not necessarily the black, threatening kind, but more the “In My Room” thoughtful type. The album’s title track, though underdeveloped, does do a decent job at capturing that feeling. It acts as the lynch pin that holds this loose concept album together. When Nicholls croons, “Are you forever standin’ by the road / With the befit of feelin’ on your own”, even the toughest individual will probably feel his or her bottom lip begin to quiver.
Anyone looking for the art garage rock sound that the rockers burst onto the scene with will have to settle for “Don’t Listen to the Radio”, which is the only track resembling anything like a radio-friendly single. All in all, Vision Valley is the speed bump the band has to hit on their road to further rock glory.
The Vines are back. Period. Not exclamation point. But sometimes, just showing up is half the battle. |