Originally Written For KDVS-FM’s Program Guide/’Zine, KDViationS

Ripening On The Vines :
The Hype Holds Up (Well, Sort Of)

By DUNCAN STRAUSS

To effectively examine The Vines phenomenon--including the magic carpet ride of Hype they’ve swooped in on--I guess you don’t have to be an enormously discerning, experienced (OK, old) and sometimes-cynical rock fan, but it sure helps.

Hell, a lot of folks otherwise pretty plugged into new bands emerging on the rock scene--indie or otherwise--could certainly be excused for scratching their heads and asking “Who are these guys?” and, even more quizzically, “How did they get so far, so fast?”

If The Vines (singer-songwriter-guitarist Craig Nicholls, bassist-singer Patrick Matthews, drummer Hamish Rosser, guitarist Ryan Griffiths) were a new car, the advertisement would no doubt emphasize their astonishing acceleration, something along the lines of “step on the gas, and the new Vines Hypester Coupe soars from zero to 60 in one second!”

OK, I know, that’s unlikely, even for a claim in a car ad. Still, seemingly from nowhere, The Vines have managed to zoom to such an insanely fast start, that the situation is itself a bit preposterous.

Just how fast?

[The Vines' debut, Highly Evolved] immediately entered the Billboard Album chart at Number 11 (and the UK Top 40 album chart at Number 3).

Well, for example, the Australian band released their disc, Highly Evolved in the States on July 16, and it immediately entered the Billboard Album chart at Number 11 (and the UK Top 40 album chart at Number 3).

Did I mention that Highly Evolved is the Vines’ debut disc?

And, for another example, right on the heels of the album’s release, they launched an American concert tour, playing hefty-sized clubs like an 800-seat venue in Philly four days after the record came out, and a 700-seater in Atlanta three days after that. Moreover, according to Pollstar, the bible of the concert industry, those shows were completely sold out.

Did I mention this was the Vines’s first real U.S. tour?

It probably goes without saying that most new bands, touring the country for the first time, behind their first record, typically play 100-300 seat clubs, and often the audiences number in the low-to-mid two figures. As a measure of just how dramatically The Vines situation clashes with the norm, they sold-out the 1100- capacity Metro in Chicago, a date they played three days before Highly Evolved was released! You can’t help but wondering how so many people knew of the Vines at all, much less so quickly and in such large numbers that instantly yielded such over-the-top stats on album sales and concert tickets.

That’s pretty weird, and it certainly begs the question: How do we account for these seemingly inexplicable accomplishments? More to the point, is their precocious, preternatural success simply the product of Veritable Vines Virtues, or do we really need to point to Heaping Hills Of Hype?

Uh, upon close inspection, the answer really seems to boil down to...yes.

This is a good little band that’s made a good little record, and whatever Highly Evolved ‘s shortcomings--and there definitely are some--they are probably more than offset by its considerable strengths, not to mention the way this CD positively bristles with promise. We’ll come back to the disc in a moment.

As a live act, the Vines are feisty and compelling, if a touch uneven and, at this point, all too predictably unpredictable. We’ll come back to that, too, in a sec, but let’s keep blasting through elements that might account for the phenomenon of The Vines’ turbo-charged, hit-the-ground-running success.

On at least a word-of-mouth level, extending back to April--so, notably, the better part of three months before the release of Highly Evolved and the start of the U.S. tour--the band did perform at the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival, a gigantic collection of wildly-diverse acts in Indio,California and attended by all sorts of journalists, critics, radio types and other tastemakers.

...This is a good little band that’s made a good little record . . . this CD positively bristles with promise.

Earlier still, though probably on an even more tenuous level, The Vines may have crept into certain rock fans’ awareness when they were included on the I Am Sam soundtrack, released in January. Featuring ”music from and inspired by the motion picture” (in other words, as with most film soundtracks these days, some of the music ain’t in the film), this collection of Beatles covers features The Vines doing a gorgeous and rather faithful version of “I’m Only Sleeping”--and rubbing shoulders on the Sam CD with artists a good deal more established, including Eddie Vedder, Sheryl Crow, The Black Crowes, Paul Westerberg and Nick Cave.

A more tangible and substantial factor, especially for its ripple effect, appears to be the way the U.K. music press went absolutely bonkers for The Vines. The venerable New Musical Express, in particular seemed to enthuse early and often, naming the band’s first single, “Factory” Single Of The Week immediately upon its release last year, weighing in with an over-the-top rave of Highly Evolved that included phrases like “a perfect synthesis of the Beatles and Nirvana,” and in a subsequent piece reiterated “We’re not joking. This is a record you must own.”

And where that sort of relentless journalistic gushing would often prompt other scribes to come gunning for The Vines (and/or NME), this time their Brit-crit brethren agreed to a huge, in some cases near-verbatim degree--the thumbs-up in The Guardian, for instance, included this sentence: “By taking elements of the Beatles and Nirvana, they have come up with a sound that’s charming in its tenderness and disarming in its energy.”

These are but mere examples of the fabled Vines Hype, both recent and from last year. And this brings us to a central point in our quest to understand Vinesmania: Generally speaking, in the pop music world, hype often begets hype, and especially so if the band in question is any good. Allowing for the subjectivity of critics, radio programmers, fans and others--or even their own inconsistency on record and live--the Vines are definitely the Real McCoy, a band that has the goods and often knows how to deliver ‘em.

So the Hype of 2001 drew all kinds of people into the fold, and when those people liked what they saw and heard, it totally worked in the band’s favor. As 2001 gave way to 2002,they got more press, they got signed to Capitol Records and MTV2 shoehorned them into its “22 Artists 2 Watch in 2002.”

Did I mention that, at this point, the Vines didn’t have a video? (They promptly corrected that problem, with a clip of its first U.S. single, “Get Free”-- directed, no less, by Roman Coppola. MTV2 then played it approximately a thousand times a day, and MTV later aired a Vines special taped at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.)

So this stuff--the Hype, the “Factory” single, Coachella, the I Am Sam soundtrack, Capitol’s enthusiasm and machinery, MTV’s support, etc.--formed the backdrop against which Highly Evolved and “Get Free” were released. That’s good thinking, good strategy and good luck. What’s very good thinking was the decision to discount the cost of Evolved. I paid eight bucks, and I believe at Best Buy you could get it for six.

The Vines ... crept into certain rock fans’ awareness when they were included on the I Am Sam soundtrack, released in January ... The Vines doing a gorgeous and rather faithful version of “I’m Only Sleeping.”

What’s also good luck, somewhat independently and fortuitously, is that part of the rock ‘n’ roll landscape has shifted--in The Vines direction. Pop music is nothing if not cyclical and part of its energy is derived from the endless string of trends that steadily rotate through that world.

A handful of 60s/70s-influenced, no-frills bands were starting to make some noise--figuratively and literally--on the rock scene, groups like The White Stripes, The Strokes, The Hives and others. Of course, regardless of whatever trends are going on in music at any given moment, fiercely-independent free-form radio stations like KDVS are always championing fiercely-independent rock bands. But what was notable in this instance is that these and other bands--that reached back to earlier rock eras for inspiration and influences as they issued great garage rock for the new millennium--were actually being embraced by mainstream rock fans, publications and radio stations.

Could it be that the tide was turning against the dreadful dogfood dished out by the likes of Limp Bizkit, Korn, Creed and a zillion other commercially-muscular but artistically-anemic bands you and I could mention?

Well, that might be too much to hope for. But, either way, the arrival of this new brigade of passionate, inspired and inspiring bands gave rock a real shot in the arm. Technically, The White Stripes fall slightly outside this group in that White Blood Cells was their third album, not their debut. But Jack White’s songwriting and the rich, blistering blues-based rawk on Cells might make it the standard-bearer (plus, White produced the debut record by a worthy addition to this brigade, The Von Bondies).

But alongside the slightly more grizzled Stripes, the high-profile newbies spearheading this movement were New York’s The Strokes--proudly wearing their Lou Reed/Velvet Underground influences on their sleeves--and Sweden’s The Hives, who crank out a rawer, more swaggering early Stones/Stooges form of garage rock. (Their Veni Vidi Vicious wasn’t actually their debut album, but was effectively received that way in America.)

When The Vines perform live, their unevenness can be magnified, especially because, right now, Nicholls is an inconsistent performer, apparently all-too- eager to act on assorted whims and ironic impulses.

Now, there was first-rate, gen-u-ine new rock available on major labels (others of that major-label ilk include--or will include--Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and two bands that rose from the ashes of At The Drive In’s fiery implosion: Sparta and The Mars Volta), being covered not just in music publications but regular ol’ newspapers and magazines, and actually played on commercial radio.

So, with all this going on, it’s hard to imagine that The Vines could’ve dropped Highly Evolved at a more ideal time. Again, it’s a very good record. Not great, certainly. It’s too uneven for that, but part of that unevenness can be attributed to Craig Nicholls’ songwriting range and ambition: there are a fistful of ballads here-- most quite good--”Factory” rides a loping ska rhythm and there are full-tilt rockers like “Get Free” and “Outtathaway.”

As a tunesmith, he occasionally overreaches, but he’s got such a versatile voice (he can sweetly croon or he can screech like there’s no tomorrow--or hit any vocal spot in between) that you hardly notice. And there’s arguably a huge plus to his songwriting spottiness/range: As a writer, he already has far more colors in his palette than, say, The Strokes’ Julian Casablanca or The Hives’ Randy Fitzsimmons and, as such, probably stands the best chance within an album or two of turning out a true masterpiece.

When The Vines perform live, their unevenness can be magnified, especially because, right now, Nicholls is an inconsistent performer, apparently all-too-eager to act on assorted whims and ironic impulses.

And because, for all intents and purposes, Nicholls is The Vines--he writes all the songs, he’s the lead singer on all of them, he plays nearly all the guitar (Griffiths is only onstage during the ballads, strumming an acoustic), he’s clearly the frontman and center of attention; hell, he even did the Evolved cover painting--so, when it comes to concerts, as Nicholls goes, so goes The Vines.

Generally, that’s a good thing because he’s charismatic and dynamic, singing with urgency and conviction whether it’s the pleading or pained howl of a barreling rocker or softly caressing the contours of the ballads. And even when he’s not outstanding, he’s always convincing; he was probably born around ‘78, but playing that music and using that voice, when he sings “It’s 1969 in my head,” you believe him. In fact, after seeing them two Fridays in a row, (and spending a lot of time with Evolved ) the concern about the Hype disappeared--these guys measure up. They’re good.

And as strong as most of the material is, one song that adds another interesting dimension to the live Vines is their acoustic, slow cover of Outkast’s “Miss Jackson,” with Nicholls’ reading transforming it into an even darker confession. Impressive.

Now if we can just get Nicholls to re-think his occasionally misguided attempt at portraying the “spontaneous,” rebellious rocker. For instance, Craig, if you think it’s a cliched ritual to play an encore, just finish the set and then don’t come back-- destroying the drum kit with your guitar on the last song so there can’t be an encore is itself a cliched ritual.

Speaking of which, Craig, that desire to be unpredictable is a touch predictable--not to mention immensely counter-productive. You guys were really good at the two shows I caught, but when you were on Letterman a few nights later, you blew chunks. Kind of a squandered opportunity, dude--you guys sounded awful, you sang like crap and you capped it off by scattering the drum kit there?

Oh, please, Craig. Get over your bad self.

But let’s hope and assume that fiasco was--or is becoming--a Vines anomaly. If they don’t sabotage this next phase, The Vines’ future looks blindingly bright. Seeing as they are a fine band with a ton of potential, they’ll probably be even better served by our “hype begets hype, especially if you’re good” axiom. So much so that by the time this issue of KDViationS hits the streets, here are some things a betting man would wager will happen for The Vines, or already did:

The new single/video “Outtathaway” will do well and boost Highly Evolved back up the charts.They’ll land on the cover of Rolling Stone or, less likely, Spin. They may also make it onto the cover of Entertainment Weekly. They’ll surely be booked on Saturday Night Live. They’ll do another U.S. tour before the end of 2002, but in 1500-2000-seat venues, and if they package themselves with a comparable act (like the White Stripes and the Strokes have done), they’ll of course be playing even bigger places. At least one filmmaker will put a Vines tune prominently in a major movie. Heck, maybe a filmmaker will put Nicholls in a movie.

So maybe not every single one of these things will happen, but it’s a pretty safe bet that many of them will. At this point, with everything that’s already happened this fast, and the way they’ve largely held up to the Hype--would you really want to bet against The Vines?

Me neither.