The Vines - Ride

Thu 11th Mar, 2004 in Music Reviews

The Vines new single Ride, the second track from their forthcoming second album Winning Days, contains two tracks, being a radio mix and the album version of the same song. Like their debut album Highly Evolved, the single is produced by Rob Schnapf (Foo Fighters, Beck), and is similar to their successful hits from 2002 Get Free and Outtathaway. This suggests a recipe for another successful radio hit for Australia’s garage rock emissaries.

Unfortunately this is not the case. Ride lacks the punch of the singles from the first album, falling flat on the listeners ear. Once again, they have released a single which borrows the Nirvana-esque loud-soft dynamics, but this time without understanding the emotion twists between the broodingly soft and the visceral loud. The song lacks character because the mix is perfect and squeaky clean. Craig Nicholls imitative snarl sounds like it has been put through Autotune. The lyrics are insipid and uninspired, perhaps attempts at the vague poetry Cobain wrote. Garage rock is meant to sound as if it has been made in a garage, not with ProTools.

The problem with The Vines is not that they are not good at writing songs – they are – it is the incessant borrowing of other peoples styles without defining their own. The cover art for the single is reminiscent of 60s psychedelic similar to Disraeli Gears by Cream. There is the use of electronic treatments on a tiny portion of the vocals, recalling 90s Brit-Pop. Then there is the Nirvana worship. Their influences show up in their music more so than their creative input does. So while being able to enjoy Ride for the first few listens, I’m found asking myself: Who are The Vines?