# 1904    The Vines -      GET  FREE

                                                                                                                        

Highly Evolved, Capitol Records, 2002     BILLBOARD CHART ACHIEVEMENTS:                       Modern Rock:  # 7                    Mainstream Rock:  # 27          GLOBAL CHART ACHIEVEMENTS:           # 24  in the UK         # 44  in Australia                 Top Ten at  MATT RADIO

The Vines are an Australian garage rock band that emerged along with others in a new breed of alternative rockers in 2002 such as The Strokes, The Hives, and The White Stripes.

The original line-up of the Vines came together in suburban Sydney in the mid-90s, where Craig Nicholls, Patrick Matthews, and David Oliffe met while working at their local McDonalds.  They decided to form a band, with Nicholls on guitar and vocals, Matthews on bass and vocals, and Oliffe on drums.  The band played Nirvana covers at parties while working on developing a sound of their own on Nicholls' four-track recorder.  They were named the Vines because Nicholls' father played in a Sydney band called the Vynes.

Their debut single, "Factory," attracted little interest in their native land, but the Vines signed with Heavenly Records in the United Kingdom.  They funded the recording of  Highly Evolved with Rob Schnapf, who had worked with the Foo Fighters, Beck, and Elliott Smith.  The single "Highly Evolved" earned them more critical hype, as New Musical Express made it a single of the week in March 2002.  That single also charted in the UK at #32 on the singles chart and also in Australia's ARIAnet top 100 singles chart.   The release of the album saw more critical success, with the band appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone and NME.   The album debuted at #3 in the UK's albums chart, #5 in Australia's ARIAnet albums chart, and #11 in the US Billboard albums chart, while the band played high-profile slots on "The Late Show with David Letterman" and the MTV Video Music Awards.  A few more singles were released from the album, including "Get Free," which charted in the UK at #24 and Australia at #44, while also being the #5 song in Australia's Triple J Hot 100 of 2002.  A third single, "Outtathaway," also charted in the UK, at #20, and also in Australia at #38.  A fourth single was also released in Australia titled "Homesick," reaching #50.  Highly Evolved then went on to sell 1.5 million copies throughout the world with distribution through Capitol Records.

The instant success put great strain on the band.  Oliffe did not like touring, and the band added guitarist Ryan Griffiths and drummer Hamish Rosser.  Nicholls and Matthews had a serious fight after a gig in Boston in late 2002.

In May 2003, the band went into a studio in Woodstock, New York, with Rob Schnapf again as producer.  While Craig Nicholls had talked of having a highly produced album, he told the Australian edition of Rolling Stone in March 2004 that they decided to stick to a less-is-more philosophy.  "I wanted it to be - in my head - something grand, with big ideas and that vision sort of thing.  But at the same time, that doesn't mean that something can't be special if it's just simple.  Because I think that the songs are the main thing."

The Vines' second album, Winning Days, was released on March 29, 2004 and debuted at #7 in Australia, #23 in the US and #32 in the UK.  "Ride" was the first single off the album, reaching #25 in the UK and #44 in Australia.  ("Ride" would be featured in a Nissan commercial and an iPod commercial in the US in 2005.)  The Vines undertook their "Australian Invasion" tour with Jet and The Living End.  A second single off the album, the title track, was released in the UK and charted at #42. 

However, after the conclusion of the tour, the band found itself in harder times.  Winning Days had not lived up to the success of Highly Evolved and had gotten a lukewarm reception from both critics and audiences.  Lead singer Craig Nicholls was becoming increasingly erratic and had to be barred from doing media interviews after several bad experiences on the American tour.

This came to a head in late May 2004, when bassist Patrick Matthews walked offstage after Craig bleated at the crowd in frustration after repeatedly asking everyone to stop talking during the first song of a radio promotion performance for national station Triple M at the Annandale Hotel in Sydney.  In the aftermath, Nicholls assaulted a photographer, and charges were pressed.  Triple M also permanently banned The Vines from airplay on their network.  The band's management stated in reply that the Vines would cease touring in support of  Winning Days, "but will record another album."

On November 19, 2004 it was revealed that Craig Nicholls has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism.  His diagnosis was revealed at a court appearance at Balmain Local Court in Sydney, where assault charges stemming from the incident at the Annandale Hotel were dropped.  The Vines may never undertake a major tour again because of Nicholls' condition, but they plan to perform occasional concerts.

In summer 2005, the group reported that they would be working on their third album sometime later in the year, with a 2006 release date in mind.

source:   wikipedia.org