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Rating:
INTRODUCTION: Often when you listen to albums for the first time, you lean towards the stereo speakers all hopeful of having made a good purchase. At least personally, there's an instinctive desire to believe it is so; in fact, during the first listen, you tend to notice more of the positive sides of an album, despite convincing yourself that the element of ‘not understanding it quite yet’ prevails.
In reality, over time I have realized that yes, the first listen is important, but to truly evaluate an album, one should note all the sensations experienced from the first to the last, more analytical and deep listen, and finally sum them up mathematically. Otherwise, there's the risk of expressing a judgment believed to be objective (meaning valid, at least minimally, for everyone), “definite,” but under the influence of a momentary passion.
For a first listen’s approval, this album didn’t need a positive reception from me: it was the album itself that overwhelmed me with its verve (“cazzimma” as they say in Campania) out of the ordinary, with its grit, enjoyable to the nth degree because it’s not the result of carelessness or overdoing it, but of great compositional maturity that makes me think of a meticulous studio effort [also because in debut albums, musicians, not being able to engage in the barbaric habit of composing during the tour with the conviction of being absorbed by music until pure inspiration, don’t risk being too exhausted for a fully lucid composition], perhaps the muse of those other episodes of the album, high and intense, of nostalgic psychedelia (Autumn Shade, Homesick, Country Yard, Mary Jane). An album that is easily recognizable (for those who know it) and harmonious in its ability to blend a boisterous spirit with a psychedelic one with extreme nonchalance [the emblematic synthesis of the album are the passionate psychedelic vocalizations, often becoming hysterical, abundant on the album: "ohhhh, ooooo- o- oh...." etc.] without pathetic results.
Perhaps the key element of the album is the personality of the Vines, here courageously and fully expressed, leading to the proposal of songs that stand out from contemporary ones for the moods they convey: there is no overused, plaintive, and careless decadence, nor the rawness of much garage rock, nor the banality of "radio-friendly" pop, but well-crafted sounds, good humor, irony, freshness. They manage to merge, in well-structured songs, crystalline melodies (worthy of the '60s-'70s) with a guitar-bass-drums synergy worthy of Nirvana's repertoire (whose performance formed them as musicians). To crown it all, the splendid voice of Craig, if nothing else very original. This album was acclaimed by most critics, but some critics, at least in Italy (but also the amateur "critics" on this site), rightly wanted to be a bit more cautious.
My reflection is: why penalize artists who have managed to synthesize the best of the last forty years of pop-rock in such a wise and personal way? Just because they're essentially garage rockers (as were the Pixies, critics' darlings) who are very popular with a young audience? Just because the era of rock milestones is over? But this doesn't mean that the intuitions of classic rock [wanting to mean rock before '94, the conventional year of rock's death along with Cobain] cannot be reinterpreted in a "modern" (and highly evolved) way creating a memorable album. The Vines have to pay the price of coming later. If this review seems like "praise" to the Vines, I am justified by the fact that many critics have overused praise for some already famous and excessively celebrated albums, so why not do it myself by introducing this "gem"?? Don't believe it? Listen for example to "In the Jungle" and hear the crackling Nirvana tackling lysergic slow-downs (!) and hysterical speed-ups, the poetic "Autumn Shade" (the autumn atmosphere is present throughout the album and even in the vintage-psychedelic cover), "Highly Evolved" in which drums, bass, and voice (and then guitar) make love in a way as intense as it is brief, the playful "Factory" in a Beatles-like manner with distorted bass and guitar à la Nirvana, the roaring "Get Free" and "Outtathaway", the moving "Country Yard", the digressions of "1969" (lyrics-admission from Craig himself about the group's sixties roots and a title tribute to the Stooges) and much more... and lyrics that don't talk about girls and dating!!!!
An unpredictable album, good humor guaranteed!
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Highly Evolved (01:34)
I'm feeling happy so highly evolved
my time's a riddle that will never be solved
dreamin for somethin
reachin for somethin
just waitin for the sun to carry me in
if you feel low
you can buy love
from a payphone
i don't feel low
my brother bill
he work for the market
life is an arrow and now he's the target
dreamin for somethin
reachin for somethin
just waitin for the sun to carry me in
if you feel low
you can buy blow
from a payphone
i don't feel low
highly evolved
highly evolved
highly evolved
highly evolved
02 Autumn Shade (02:17)
slip into the autumn shade
I could sleep for days
But I like the sun when
I can hear another sound
It's a long way down
Keep my head up
Who am I to be this way
Dreamin so insane
But I like the sun when
Falling through another plain
Never one the same
Keep my head up
03 Outtathaway (03:02)
Composed by: Craig Nicholls
I get (I get, I get)
What I own
Don't let (don't let, don't let)
The feelings that I choose (I choose, I choose)
Cause everybody else do
Gotta get outtathaway!
No time for me to stay
Everyone in the world don't affect you
Yeah
Now come on and make room
We think (we think, we think)
You're a lot different (different, different)
Your number ain't your thing (your thing, your thing)
Your life is on the wrong end
Gotta get outtathaway!
No time for me to stay
Everyone in the world dont affect you
Now C'mon (aaaaah...) (x4)
Gotta get outtathaway! (aaaaah...)
No time for me to stay (aaaaah...)
When I speak out of line (aaaaah...)
I don't believe in time (aaaaah...)
05 Homesick (04:53)
I left my home
I left my home yeah, yeah
Where I should go
Where I should go yeah, yeah
Nothin's gonna save you
Nothin's gonna save you out there
Went on my own
Went on my own yeah, yeah
Without my phone
Without my phone yeah, yeah
Nothin's gonna save you
Nothin's gonna save you out there
Nothin's gonna save you
Nothin's gonna save you or give
I can see the leaves of golden glisten in the sun
Making time for everyone is what I should have done
Blue and green with eyes between are acting all the same
You and me are never free until we're cast away
But it really doesn't matter couldn't change it if I tried
Though it really doesn't matter
I'll do it till I get it right
Nothing going to save you
Nothings going to save you out there
Nothings going to save you
Nothings going to save you out there
06 Get Free (02:06)
I'm gonna get free
I'm gonna get free
I'm gonna get free
Ride into the sun
She never loved me
She never loved me
She never loved me
Why should anyone?
(Come here, come here, come here)
I'll take your photo for ya
(Come here, come here, come here)
Drive you around the corna
(Come here, come here, come here)
You know you really oughta
(Come here, come here, come here)
Move outta California
Get (get)
Me (me)
Far (far)
When I've alot to lose
Save (save)
Me (me)
From (from)
Here! (here)
(come here x 12)
When it's breeding time
Look into your mind away
I'm gonna get free
I'm gonna get free
I'm gonna get free
Ride into the sun
She never loved me
She never loved me
She never loved me
Why should anyone?
(Come here, come here, come here)
I'll take your photo for ya
(Come here, come here, come here)
Drive you around the corna
(Come here, come here, come here)
You know you really oughta
(Come here, come here, come here)
Move outta California
07 Country Yard (03:46)
I'm tired of feelin sick and useless
then speakin every other way
gluin my eyes together girl
might be the right escape
there's nothin in the secret garden
just images of blue and white
losin my mind forever girl
maybe the only sign
down in a country yard
I was taken by the shadows
although we couldn't see that far
I was dreamin of tomorrow
I really don't need a change
I really don't need what's mine
out in a country yard
it'll be just fine
aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhiiiiiii (x4)
down in a country yard
I was taken by the shadows
although we couldn't see that far
I was dreamin of tomorrow
I really don't need a change
I really don't need what's mine
out in a country yard
it'll be just fine
aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhiiiiiii (x8)
08 Factory (03:12)
Days are long but the minds are strong
In the factory
Heads are down and all the people frown
In the factory
I'm so down I put my head around every noose I see
Days are long but the minds are strong
In the factory
Eyes are mean but the walls are clean
In the factory
Patience now they're gonna string you out
In the factory
I'm so tired I never go outside every night I sleep
Days are long but the minds are gone
In the factory
09 In the Jungle (04:15)
In the jungle you can sleep
with the commandments at your feet
where the devil lays his hand
you don't even need to think
I'm tearin holes without a sink
but I know just where I stand
lines from the story you put before me
I don't know what to choose
under the oak tree tin all around me
I don't know what to prove
yeah she felt you felt like hell
in the jungle you're in the jungle
you're in the jungle that's you
in the jungle you're in the jungle
you're in the jungle ooooooohhh
and I'll be waitin for a hit yeah
ain't gonna seem fair tonight
and I'll keep havin other fits yeah
because it makes me feel alright
alright alright ooohhh ooohhh yeah right ooohhh ooohhh yeah
so if you should need a hand
write down the address of the land
but I'm runnin out of time
I'll tell you when it's time to leave
you're never gonna get clean
10 Mary Jane (05:52)
Mary Jane said life's a wait
I already knew
Because we're down
We'll lose the town
Just like I would choose
Mary Jane said minds are games
I went to the moon
Before we know
She'll have to go
Wish I were there too
But I've got to go
Mary Jane (x8)
Mary says
I, I can love you
Life's a wait
Why, why should I lose
When I've got to go
Mary Jane (x9)
11 Ain't No Room (03:28)
There ain't no room for me in the city
The lights go down but it looks so pretty
So take me away from the corner
Let me hide away in the fauna
With something at my side
Forget it now forget it then
We'll hang around without a care
There ain't no room for me in the city
The lights go down but it looks so pretty
So take me away from the corner
Let me hide away in the fauna
With something at my side
Going outta my head
Was it something I read
Forget it now
Forget it then
We'll hang around without a care
12 1969 (06:29)
It's 1969 in my head
I just wanna have no place to go
Livin' through the sound of the dead
I'm gonna get stoned look around in my soul
I'm hearin' voices in the trees
And seein' footsteps in the rain
I just wanna die before I lose my dol
I have been cryin' in my sleep
Cause I don't know where I have been
I just wanna live to see another day
HEY HEY HEY HEY (x8)
When I get my buick six
I'll see my life drop in that whirlpool
If I get to see you again
You're the only one I know
Here we go
There I stand
I'm a seed
Of a man
Dare I go
Dare I stare
I'm a seed
Of a man
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Other reviews
By Axelmoloko
In this album, you will find nothing new, nothing that hasn’t already been written in the rock of the '90s.
If you’ve forgotten what the '90s produced, this is the album for you as it retraces with freshness and intelligent inspirations a decade of guitar bands.
By hammondjr
The entire album, at least until 'Get Free,' the best track in my opinion, proceeds with this 'undulating' pace.
Simplicity is the prerogative of The Vines and manifests through the elementary riffs of the guitarists, the timing and fills of Hamish Rosser, and the voice of their leader.
By fostermock
"It was nothing innovative or particularly brilliant; it could have been made by any other budding Anglo-Saxon indie band."
"Don’t believe the hype... 3/5 anyway."
