Entertainment
Bullz-Eye Home
Entertainment
Music
Movies
Television
Movie DVDs
Music DVDs
Games
Celebrity Babes
Entertainers
Interviews
Channels
The Opposite Sex
Sports
Entertainment
Fitness
Gadgets
Vices
Wagering
Humor
Recreation
Travel
Stuff to Buy
News
Premium Members

Join  Enter



Cool Links

All Pro Models
Premium Hollywood
EatSleepDrink Music
Sports Blog
Cleveland Sports
Political Humor
Toksick

CD Reviews: Review of Winning Days by The Vines
 
Red Rocker Home / CD Reviews Home / Entertainment Channel / Entertainment Web Guide


Click here to buy yourself a copy from Amazon.com The Vines: Winning Days (2004)

Buy your copy now from
Oh, that dreaded sophomore slump! Many bands never survive to see their sophomore year, some can’t get beyond it, and others do but we later wish they hadn’t. I was plenty high on The Vines a couple years back, one of my fav new bands of 2002 they were. Amidst a year when there were far too many The bands to be able to decipher, I found The Vines’ youthful energy and brash approach very refreshing.

Since then, however, I’ve read countless interviews about how many backstage beer cans they’re able to crush on their forehead, how many shows they’ve performed but can’t recall the next morning, and ultimately found myself growing bored of them. Then I came to realize who frontman Craig Nicholls reminds me of. Remember the MTV sitcom in the early 1990s “The Young Ones”? Nicholls is Vivian, the obnoxious, zit faced redhead with everything pierced who spews unintelligible psychobabble for hours on end until another roommate would eventually clock him over the head with an oversized lug wrench or something.

The Vines sophomore offering Winning Days is nearly as grating on the patience as a whining Vivian, especially since we know what these cats are more capable of producing. Lame attempts at over distortion (“Evil Town”) and the wretched juvenile sense to utilize the word “fuck” as a noun, verb and adjective (“Ride” and “F.T.W” ad nauseam) pile up to pollute a handful of otherwise accomplished melodies. Instead, The Vines seem to shine the brightest when they simplify. I don’t even know that this whole grunge rock thing is necessarily their best route to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The title track is beautiful in the same way a Beach Boys tune was/is. Remember, keep it simple. And when distorted noise fails you, try keeping it pretty and poppy. Yes, that’s it! The Vines write better pop songs (“Sun Child”) than they do angry grunge songs (“F.T.W”). What do these 20-something guys really have to be so bitter about anyway? “She’s Got Something to Say to Me” sounds like a revved up Partridge Family song but it’s very good. This record plays out like a battle of two bands: a modern day Jan & Dean vs. a two-bit Nirvana cover band. For the first time in my life maybe, I’m favoring the vocal styling and musical imagination of Jan & Dean here over a Nirvana rip-off. Mark the date.

Now if we could only settle Nicholls and the boys down for a bit, long enough to write an entire album of summery pop songs…then we might really have something. 


~Red Rocker 
redrocker@bullz-eye.com





 

Bullz-Eye.com : Feedback - Link to Us  - About B-E - FAQ - Advertise with Us


© 2000-2005 Bullz-Eye.com®, All Rights Reserved. Contact the webmaster with questions or comments. Privacy Policy and Site Map