The Vines
Encyclopedia
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The Vines are an Australian alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band originally formed as Rishikesh in 1994 in Sydney. They play a musical hybrid of 1960s garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...

 and 1990s alternative music. Since 2006, their line-up has consisted of vocalist and lead guitarist Craig Nicholls
Craig Nicholls
Craig Robert Nicholls, is the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the Australian alternative rock group The Vines. He formed the band in 1994 in Sydney, New South Wales...

, rhythm guitarist Ryan Griffiths
Ryan Griffiths (guitarist)
Ryan Griffiths is the guitarist for the Australian garage rock band The Vines.Craig Nicholls, who started the band, realised while touring for the promotion of Highly Evolved that the band needed an additional guitarist. So Craig asked his longtime friend and schoolmate Ryan to join the band.-Solo...

, bass guitarist Brad Heald
Brad Heald
Brad Heald is the current bass guitarist in the Australian garage rock band The Vines and the current guitarist of Sydney band Red Riders. He officially replaced Patrick Matthews, the previous bass guitarist of The Vines, who left during the Annandale Hotel performance in 2004 where Craig Nicholls...

, and drummer Hamish Rosser
Hamish Rosser
Hamish Rosser is the drummer of Australian garage rock band, The Vines. He graduated with a degree in Engineering from Sydney University. He worked as a chemical engineer in Sydney. He left his job so that he could play music with bands...

.

The Vines' success in the Australian recording industry resulted in winning an ARIA Award in 2002
ARIA Music Awards of 2002
The 16th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 15 October 2002 at the Sydney SuperDome.-ARIA Awards:...

 for 'Breakthrough Artist – Single' for "Get Free
Get Free
"Get Free" is a song by the garage rock band The Vines from their debut album Highly Evolved. The song was released in late 2002, and remains the Vines' highest charting single . The song was written by Vines' frontman Craig Nicholls...

", and receiving five other nominations for their debut album Highly Evolved
Highly Evolved
Highly Evolved is the debut album by Australian alternative rock band The Vines, released in July 2002. Produced by Rob Schnapf, Highly Evolved was an immensely popular debut, part of a trend towards garage rock revival bands known as much for the relentless hype from the UK music press as for...

, plus two further nominations in subsequent years. In 2003, the album went double platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

 in Australia, and since then the band has released four albums and a best-of compilation from their time at Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

. Their fifth album and newest release titled Future Primitive
Future Primitive (album)
Future Primitive is the fifth studio album by Australian alternative rock band The Vines.-Background:The majority of the album was recorded at Studios 301, Sydney during February and March 2010 with producer Chris Colonna of Bumblebeez...

was released on 3 June 2011 in Australia with worldwide release dates to be announced.

Formation and early years (1994–2000)

The original line-up of Rishikesh formed in Sydney in 1994 when vocalist and lead guitarist Craig Nicholls and bass guitarist Patrick Matthews
Patrick Matthews
Patrick Matthews is the former bassist of Australian garage rock band The Vines and currently the bassist of Youth Group. Matthews founded The Vines with Craig Nicholls. The two met while working at McDonald's in Sydney. Matthews stayed with the band for two albums...

 met whilst working at their local McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

 in the suburb of South Hurstville
South Hurstville, New South Wales
South Hurstville is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. South Hurstville is located 18 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. South Hurstville is in the local government area of the Municipality of Kogarah...

, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

. They were soon joined by Matthews' school friend David Olliffe on drums. The name "Rishikesh", suggested by Olliffe, refers to the Indian city where The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 visited an ashram in 1968. The local newspapers regularly misprinted the name as "Rishi Chasms", so Nicholls suggested a new name, "The Vines", as a homage to his father, who fronted a local Elvis
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 cover-band called The Vynes. The group started performing Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

 and You Am I
You Am I
You Am I are an Australian alternative rock band, fronted by vocalist/guitarist and main songwriter Tim Rogers. They were the first Australian band to have three albums successively debut at #1 on the ARIA Charts, and are renowned for their live performances.-History:Tim Rogers formed the first...

 covers at backyard parties while developing their sound on Nicholls' four-track recorder.

Over the next few years, The Vines gigged infrequently and remained relatively unknown, even in their hometown, yet by the beginning of 2001 they had amassed a repertoire of over thirty songs. On the strength of their demo, XL Recordings
XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label owned by Richard Russell. It originated as a 1989 offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records.Though only releasing an average of six albums a year, XL Recordings has worked with The Prodigy, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Vampire...

 put out what was to be their first single, "Factory
Factory (The Vines)
"Factory" is the second single released by Australian rock band The Vines. All 3 songs were re-recorded later on in the Vines career with "Factory' and 'Ain't No Room' being re-recorded for their debut album 'Highly Evolved' released in July 2002 and 'Drown the Baptists' being re-recorded during...

", as a limited seven-inch EP. The release became NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

's Single of the Week in November 2001.

Highly Evolved, fame, and critical acclaim (2001–2003)

In July 2001, the band flew to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 to start recording their debut album, Highly Evolved
Highly Evolved
Highly Evolved is the debut album by Australian alternative rock band The Vines, released in July 2002. Produced by Rob Schnapf, Highly Evolved was an immensely popular debut, part of a trend towards garage rock revival bands known as much for the relentless hype from the UK music press as for...

, with Rob Schnapf
Rob Schnapf
Rob Schnapf is an American record producer and musician. He was the co-producer of Elliott Smith's albums Either/Or, XO , Figure 8 and From a Basement on the Hill, for which he was recruited by Smith's family to complete after Smith's death.Schnapf, along with Rothrock and partner...

. Recording was put on hold soon after, as funds ran low. David Olliffe decided to leave Los Angeles and return to Australia, due to the fast pace of events and pressure of recording. Recording continued a few months later as a result of increasing record company interest, and band had session drummers fill in, including Joey Waronker
Joey Waronker
Joseph "Joey" Waronker is an American drummer and music producer. He is the son of record producer Lenny Waronker and singer/actress Donna Loren; his younger sister is musician Anna Waronker; and his grandfather is record executive and professional violinist Simon Waronker. He has three other...

 of R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

 Once back in Australia, they started advertising for a new drummer in late 2001. Soon after, they recruited Hamish Rosser on drums and Nicholls' friend Ryan Griffiths on acoustic guitar.

Their first single, "Factory", released in November 2001, attracted little interest in Australia. It gained a good response in the United Kingdom, with the NME describing their garage rock sound as "of the oldest school". Record companies were still only considering the release of another EP, however, Nicholls was adamant about making a full-length album, and went seeking record companies overseas. The Vines were eventually signed to Heavenly Records
Heavenly Records
Heavenly Records, aka Heavenly Recordings, is a London-based record label, distributed by EMI. Founded by Jeff Barrett, a former press officer for Creation Records and many successful indie bands of the time including Happy Mondays, Heavenly Recordings' first releases were 7" and 12" singles for...

 in the UK in December 2001 and EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 in Australia in April 2002. The single "Highly Evolved" earned them more critical acclaim as NME made it a single of the week in March 2002. The single charted in the UK at number 32 on the singles chart and on Australia's ARIAnet
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

 top 100 singles chart.

They appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

in October 2002 (the first Australian band to do so since Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...

 in 1983) with the words "Rock is Back: Meet the Vines" boldly emblazoned underneath. Referred to as the 'The' bands, The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....

, The Hives
The Hives
The Hives are a Swedish garage rock band that first garnered attention in the early 2000s as a prominent group of the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the "greatest hits" album Your New Favourite Band, featuring their most well-known song "Hate to Say I Told...

, The White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...

, and The Vines combined "old fashioned punk and adrenaline fuelled riffs" to be ushered in at the beginning of 2002 as the "saviors of rock".

The release of the album saw more critical success, with the band appearing on the cover of NME. The album debuted at number 3 in the UK's albums chart, number 5 in Australia's ARIAnet albums chart, and number 11 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 albums chart. The band played high-profile slots on The Late Show with David Letterman and the MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...

. A few more singles were released from the album, including "Get Free" and "Outtathaway!". A fourth single, "Homesick", was released in Australia only. The band went on to win an ARIA Award, 'Breakthrough Artist - Single', for "Get Free" in 2002, and were nominated for "Best Group", "Best Rock Album", "Best Cover Art", and "Breakthrough Artist - Album". Highly Evolved sold 1.5 million copies throughout the world with distribution through Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

. By end of 2003, the album went double platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

 in Australia.
In May 2003, the band went into a studio in Woodstock
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 with Rob Schnapf again on production. 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".

Winning Days (2004–2005)

Their second album, Winning Days
Winning Days
Winning Days is the second studio album by Australian alternative rock band The Vines, following their debut, Highly Evolved, and was released on 23 March 2004. The enhanced CD has the music video for "Ride". Winning Days was recorded in the summer of 2003 at Bearsville Studios in New York and was...

, was released on 29 March 2004 and debuted at number 7 in Australia, number 23 in the US, and number 29 in the UK. The Vines had recently finished their "Australian Invasion" tour with Jet
Jet (band)
Jet are an Australian rock band formed in 2001 while attending St Bede's College Mentone in Melbourne, . The band consists of lead guitarist Cameron Muncey, bassist Mark Wilson, and brothers Nic and Chris Cester on vocals/rhythm guitar and drums respectively...

 and The Living End
The Living End
The Living End are an Australian rock band from Melbourne, Victoria, formed in 1994. The current lineup consists of Chris Cheney , Scott Owen and Andy Strachan...

, which started on 11 March 2004 in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

. "Ride" and "Winning Days" were released as singles in Australia (where they did not chart) and the UK. There was speculation that "Animal Machine" would have been the next American single, and early American promotional flats for the album note this. However, there was no American follow-up to "Ride". The song was featured on a Nissan car commercial and an iPod commercial in the US in 2005, and was featured on season one of the FOX show The O.C.
The O.C.
The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...

. The Vines were featured in the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 television network's image campaign for the 2004–2005 season.

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

Things came to a head in late May 2004 during a performance for national station Triple M
Triple M
The Triple M Network is an active rock radio network in Australia owned by media company Austereo, who also own the Today Network.- History :...

 at the Annandale Hotel in Sydney, when bassist Patrick Matthews walked off stage after Craig shouted at the crowd, calling them "sheep" in frustration after repeatedly asking the crowd to stop talking during the first song. In the aftermath, Nicholls assaulted a photographer, and charges were pressed. Matthews subsequently left the band. After the incident the band's management stated that The Vines would cease touring in support of Winning Days and would record another studio album.

Vision Valley and a return to the stage (2006–2007)

In mid-2005, the group announced they were working on their third album, with producer Wayne Connolly
Wayne Connolly
 Wayne Connolly is an Australian producer/engineer and musician. Throughout the 1990s Connolly played in Sydney band The Welcome Mat, who released a series of critically acclaimed albums and EPs through Waterfront Records and id/Mercury...

. Andy Kent
Andy Kent
-Biography:Andy Kent joined You Am I in late 1991 at the age of twenty-two, replacing Nick Tischler, and joining Tim Rogers with new drummer Mark Tunaley . Kent was the band's live sound engineer prior to being asked to join the band at a performance in Canberra...

 of fellow Australian band You Am I filled in on bass playing duties. In November of that year, the band's management announced they had finished recording all the songs that would appear on the album. Mixing and mastering of the tracks commenced in January 2006. In mid-December 2005, the song "Gross Out" was leaked onto the internet. Although the song was as yet untitled and unfinished, it contained guide vocals and instruments. The band's manager asked for the song to be taken down from the blog it was found on, and drummer Hamish Rosser issued a statement on the band's fan club forum asking fans not to post or distribute the song on the internet.

"Don't Listen to the Radio
Don't Listen to the Radio
"Don't Listen to the Radio" is a single from Australian rock band The Vines' third album Vision Valley. It was a minor hit in the UK and Australia, reaching positions of 66 and 46 on the countries' respective singles charts....

" was released as the album's first single, and was made available for digital download on 7 March on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

. The song was used on the soundtrack for the video game FlatOut 2
FlatOut 2
FlatOut 2 is a racing video game developed by Bugbear Entertainment and published by Empire Interactive and Vivendi Universal Games. It is the sequel to the 2004-2005 releaseFlatOut....

. "Gross Out" was made available for digital download on 18 March, and was the first song leaked from the album. Vision Valley
Vision Valley
Vision Valley is the third studio album by Australian alternative rock band The Vines. It was released on 1 April 2006 in Australia and on 3 April 2006 everywhere else except in the USA, where it was released on 4 April 2006...

was released on 1 April 2006 in Australia, 3 April in Europe, and 4 April in the United States.

Vision Valley consisted of short, immediate songs; the album running little over 30 minutes in length. "Anysound
Anysound
"Anysound" is a rock song by The Vines from their 2006 album Vision Valley. The song is famous for its video, directed by Michel Gondry, involving puppets. It was first released on YouTube, and eventually made it to television...

" was the second official single from the album, and an animated music video was released exclusively through YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

. "Dope Train" was released as a third single, with a music video composed of live footage of the band from Big Day Out in 2007.

On 19 July 2006, The Vines played a gig at the Annandale Hotel under the name "Joe Dirt", with a new bassist, Brad Heald
Brad Heald
Brad Heald is the current bass guitarist in the Australian garage rock band The Vines and the current guitarist of Sydney band Red Riders. He officially replaced Patrick Matthews, the previous bass guitarist of The Vines, who left during the Annandale Hotel performance in 2004 where Craig Nicholls...

, after former bassist Patrick Matthews departed the group. They announced to their official fan club website, Dreamin the Insane, that they were ready to perform again and were going to schedule shows "any day now".

On 23 July, the band appeared as a mystery guest at the Splendour in the Grass
Splendour in the Grass
Splendour in the Grass is an annual Australian music festival held in July at Woodford, Queensland, and previously held at Belongil Fields, outside Byron Bay...

 festival, Byron Bay
Byron Bay, New South Wales
Byron Bay is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a headland adjacent to the town, is the easternmost point of mainland Australia. At the 2006 Census, the town had a...

. September 2006 saw The Vines perform at their own shows for the first time in two years. The Vines played in two venues in Sydney and Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

.

The Vines played in the Big Top as part of the Homebake
Homebake
Homebake is an annual Australian rock festival, featuring an all-Australian lineup . The festival was first held on 4 January 1996 at Belongil Fields in Byron Bay, on the far north coast of New South Wales...

 festival in December 2006. In early February 2007, the band completed their Big Day Out performances to strong and positive press reviews. Frontman Craig Nicholls praised the audience and fans throughout the festival tour, thanking them for "sticking with the band" during the tough times the band had faced preceding the incident at the Annandale Hotel on 14 May 2004.

Melodia (2008)

After the limited commercial success of Vision Valley, The Vines were subsequently dropped by their record labels Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

, EMI, and Heavenly Records in mid-2007. All of the labels are owned by EMI, which was bought out by Terra Firma Capital Partners
Terra Firma Capital Partners
Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd is a leading U.K.-based private equity firm, best known for its failed investment in British music company EMI. Financier Guy Hands founded the firm in 2002 through the spin-off of Nomura Principal Finance Group...

 in mid-2007. The new owners restructured the label and dropped bands from their roster that they considered to be underperforming in the album sales department. Shortly after, however, the band was picked up by Ivy League Records
Ivy League Records
For other uses of the term Ivy League see Ivy League Ivy League Records is a record label based in Sydney, Australia.Associated with the music management company Winterman & Goldstein and Ivy League Music publishing, Ivy League is the creation of Cameron Emerson-Elliot , Peter Lusty and James Roden...

, run by Winterman & Goldstein, for an Australian record deal.

Once a budget was finalized by Ivy League Records for their forthcoming album, The Vines returned to the recording studio in mid-November 2007 with Highly Evolved and Winning Days producer Rob Schnapf in Los Angeles to begin recording their upcoming album.

Bass and drum track recordings for 15 songs that were considered for inclusion on the forthcoming album were completed in December 2007 during a 5 day recording stint. In March 2008, NME reported that The Vines' fourth studio album had been completed during the week of 3 March 2008 to 10 March 2008, with a tentative release date of June 2008.

After completing Melodia in early March, The Vines played the South By South West festival in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, showcasing new material. They played small venues during this time.

On 23 May 2008, it was announced officially that The Vines' new album was to be released on 12 July and would be titled "Melodia". The first single preceding the release was to be "He's a Rocker", which was released through iTunes on 3 June 2008 along with two bonus tracks. "MerryGoRound" was released as a follow-up single for radio airplay in Australia during August 2008. "MerryGoRound" only received support and backing from Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...

 radio. "Get Out" was released as the third single from Melodia in September 2008 for radio airplay, and a music video was released to coincide with the release of "Get Out" as a single by Ivy League Records on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

. "Get Out" was featured on the in-game soundtrack of Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Midnight Club: Los Angeles
Midnight Club: Los Angeles is the fourth video game in the Midnight Club series of racing video games, not including Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix. It was officially announced for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on January 11, 2008 by Rockstar Games. The game was developed by Rockstar San Diego...

released in late October 2008 on Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

 and PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

 gaming platforms.

In October 2008, The Vines commenced a national Australian tour in support of Melodia, playing small venues across major cities throughout Australia, including The Metro Theatre
The Metro Theatre
The Metro Theatre is a music venue located on George Street, in the central business district of Sydney, Australia. The venue was redeveloped, from two former cinemas, by property developer Leon Fink....

 (Sydney), ANU
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...

 Bar (Canberra), The HiFi Bar (Melbourne), The Great Northern Bar (Byron Bay), The Tivoli (Brisbane), The Governor Hindmarsh (Adelaide), and The Rosemount Hotel (Perth).

In November 2008, The Vines were announced as being part of the lineup for the 2009 Australian Big Day Out, but on 14 November the band cancelled all forthcoming live appearances, including Homebake 2008 and their Japanese tour, citing the deterioration of Nicholls' mental health during the course of their October tour in Australia as the reason.

Future Primitive and album number six (2009–present)

In early 2009, photos surfaced on The Vines' official forum showing Nicholls "recording demos for the new album". The photos, posted by Nicholls' sister, show Craig with an acoustic guitar and what appears to be a 4-track cassette recorder.

On 14 November 2009, The Vines played at the Annandale Hotel, under the alias of The Crimes. They had a support slot with You Am I, playing their back catalogue and a new song from an album due in 2011.

The Vines officially stepped out of pre-production and started to record their fifth studio album in February 2010. The album recording was completely finished in mid-March, with mixing taking place in Sydney at the end of March and mastering taking place in early April.

The band played at Splendour in the Grass in 2010 to a packed main stage and supported Powderfinger
Powderfinger
Powderfinger was an Australian rock band that formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their breakup the band lineup consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bassist John Collins, and drummer Jon Coghill....

 at the first four shows of their farewell tour.

The Vines debuted new songs "Future Primitive", "Gimme Love", and "Black Dragon" at the Annandale Hotel on 23 June.

The Vines performed at Singfest, a Singapore music festival on 5 August.

A music video for "Gimme Love" wrapped filming on 1 March 2011, with the completed video surfacing online through YouTube on 27 March. The music video pays homage to the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a 2010 comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, based on the graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley. The film is about Scott Pilgrim , a young Canadian musician, meeting the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers , an American delivery girl...

.

Over a year after its completion, Future Primitive received an official release date through The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
The Daily Telegraph is an Australian tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, by Nationwide News, part of News Corporation.The Tele, as it is also known, was founded in 1879. From 1936 to 1972, it was owned by Frank Packer's Australian Consolidated Press. That year it was sold to...

on 3 June 2011. Because The Vines did not have a label at the time of recording, the band members funded the album's recording themselves. Upon the album's completion, the band approached various record labels to see if any were interested in signing the band for its release, explaining the year-long delay between recording and release.

In May 2011, The Vines played on-stage with The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols are an American alternative rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994. The band was founded by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström, with keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford later joining. Hedford left in 1998 and was replaced by...

 at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney for the song "It's a Fast-Driving Rave-Up with The Dandy Warhols". The two bands had previously had dinner at the Warhols' studio The Odditorium in 2004, along with the bands Jet
Jet (band)
Jet are an Australian rock band formed in 2001 while attending St Bede's College Mentone in Melbourne, . The band consists of lead guitarist Cameron Muncey, bassist Mark Wilson, and brothers Nic and Chris Cester on vocals/rhythm guitar and drums respectively...

 and The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....

.

In an interview with Music Feeds
Music Feeds
Music Feeds is a free bi-weekly digital music and lifestyle magazine established in 2008 and based in Sydney, Australia. It is distributed electronically every second Tuesday, with additional material posted on the website regularly....

 at Splendour in the Grass
Splendour in the Grass
Splendour in the Grass is an annual Australian music festival held in July at Woodford, Queensland, and previously held at Belongil Fields, outside Byron Bay...

 2011, Nicholls talks about a late 2011 or early 2012 release date for their still unnamed sixth album.

Musical style

The Vines' musical style can generally be categorized as a fusion of alternative rock and garage rock. Much of the band's early grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...

 sound can be attributed to their beginnings as a Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

 cover band.
Ex-bassist Matthews believed that Winning Days was a step in a different direction for the band. "The themes are more introspective and less wild rock'n'roll". Their music also includes elements of neo-psychedelia
Neo-psychedelia
Neo-psychedelia is music that emulates or is heavily influenced by the psychedelic music of the 1960s. It began to be revived among British post-punk bands of the later 1970s and early 1980s and was taken up by groups including bands of the Paisley Underground and Madchester scenes, as well as...

.

Reception

Upon the release of their debut album, The Vines were hailed as “the second coming of Nirvana" by the British press; their grungy sound was considered reminiscent of the Seattle scene circa ’91, and Nicholls' erratic on-stage behavior and raw vocals drew comparisons between him and Kurt Cobain. Highly Evolved became a huge success and their accompanying live shows in the early years were praised as "electrifying" and "sensational".

Critical reactions to 2004's Winning Days were mixed. Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

's
Chris Ott described it as being "nothing more than boring and harmlessly vapid" and showing "only mild promise". Conversely, Rolling Stone's Fricke said "it was a leap forward in style and frenzy".
The Vines music has also been a big influence on film director Fabrizio Federico's debut feature film Black Biscuit, he regularly played their music during the films post production.

Activism

In 2006, The Vines created a decorated heart card to benefit People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. In 2007, the group joined the organization in calling for an end to Canada's seal hunt.

Discography

  • Highly Evolved
    Highly Evolved
    Highly Evolved is the debut album by Australian alternative rock band The Vines, released in July 2002. Produced by Rob Schnapf, Highly Evolved was an immensely popular debut, part of a trend towards garage rock revival bands known as much for the relentless hype from the UK music press as for...

    (2002)
  • Winning Days
    Winning Days
    Winning Days is the second studio album by Australian alternative rock band The Vines, following their debut, Highly Evolved, and was released on 23 March 2004. The enhanced CD has the music video for "Ride". Winning Days was recorded in the summer of 2003 at Bearsville Studios in New York and was...

    (2004)
  • Vision Valley
    Vision Valley
    Vision Valley is the third studio album by Australian alternative rock band The Vines. It was released on 1 April 2006 in Australia and on 3 April 2006 everywhere else except in the USA, where it was released on 4 April 2006...

    (2006)
  • Melodia
    Melodia (album)
    Initial critical response to Melodia was average. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 43, based on 9 reviews.-Track listing:-B-Sides and Bonus Tracks:...

    (2008)
  • Future Primitive
    Future Primitive (album)
    Future Primitive is the fifth studio album by Australian alternative rock band The Vines.-Background:The majority of the album was recorded at Studios 301, Sydney during February and March 2010 with producer Chris Colonna of Bumblebeez...

    (2011)
  • N/A (2011)
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