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The Vines

Future Primitive

Written by: TL on 20/06/2011 00:25:15

Re-reading my review of The Vines' fourth album "Melodia" from back in 2008, I must admit that at the time, I was only dutifully reviewing such an indie-rock release while I pretty much had no overview of the genre. The reason I'm re-reading it is that, in all honesty, there's little I look forward to less than another record from The Vines. Despite my lenient grade of 7, I can't for the life of me remember a single detail from the album, and after having spent the time since then listening to and reviewing albums from all over the spectrum of indie-rock, I haven't learned anything that has made me expect any different from the new "Future Primitive".

Should you not know or maybe just not remember, The Vines are an Australian quartet whose fame in these part is owed mostly to the relative success of single "Ride", off 2004's sophomore album "Winning Days". Their sound can be described as a sort of indie/garage rock/pop with a dash of brit-rock, or in terms of references, as what Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys or Oasis would be like if it sounded simpler and more stoned.

In my last review of the band, I commented neutrally on the consistency of the band's approach, but this time around, I'm not hesitant to criticize them for it. Bar a few, trippy electronic additions to the soundscape here and there, The Vines are almost unchanged from the days of yore, except for the fact that it's been a good while since they've written a song with nearly the same staying power as those on their first two albums. For almost the entire album, we're treated to the same short and simple, chorus-oriented garage-rockers, the kind of which the band has delivered in assembly line fashion since their emergence.

In all fairness, this monotony is broken towards the end of the record, as "All That You Do" and "Outro" suddenly venture into trippy ambiance. It only goes to show however, that variety isn't any good just for the sake of it, as the shift completely derails whatever little momentum the album had. Effectively, the final two 'real' songs seem completely disconnected and redundant, and one is faced with the question, if "Future Primitive" hadn't been better off being left as at least a mediocre garage-rock record by track nine. Coincidentally the only song that sparked any sort of excitement in yours truly, namely "Black Dragon".

Anyway, as you may have figured, I don't have many kind words for The Vines, and to take a hint from The Maccabees, I will hence soon say "nothing more at all". "Future Primitive" has really made me wonder, if The Vines are even still relevant enough, for me to bother with reviewing them for the sake of you folks. I mean do any of you care? And if you do, I really do wonder why you wouldn't rather listen to any of the bands listed below here, as they do similar music, only with more interesting results.

Download: Black Dragon, Candy Flippin' Girl,
For The Fans Of: Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Cage The Elephant, Oasis,
Listen: myspace.com/thevines

Release Date 03.06.2011
Sony Music