1. Get Out-2:10
2. Manger-2:02
3. A.S III-1:53
4. He’s A Rocker-1:54
5. Orange Amber-2:01
6. Jamola-.59
7. True As The Night-6:07
8. Braindead-2:26
9. Kara Jayne-2:07
10. MerryGoRound-2:12
11. Hey-1:33
12. A Girl I Knew-2:19
13. Scream-2:00
14. She Is Gone-2:52
The Review
Australian garage rock band The Vines has had a career full of ups and downs. After the success of their 2002 debut album, Highly Evolved, the band stumbled with their follow-up, Winning Days, and the negative publicity surrounding frontman Craig Nicholls (going crazy at a show, attacking a photographer), which was later revealed to be from Asperger’s Syndrome. This hindered The Vines’ ability to tour on a consistent level. Their third album, 2006’s Vision Valley, sold poorly in the United States and The Vines were quickly forgotten about in the states.
During this time, the band still had momentum in their home country and continued to slowly get back into touring and working on their fourth album. Melodia is similar to their last release, only clocking in at a brief 32 minutes and packed with short, quick numbers, not including the one epic that is the centerpiece of the album. Melodia shows a more mature side of the band, a natural progression for the foursome. While The Vines don’t top their smashing debut album, the band finally gets back on track and continues in the direction they were heading with Vision Valley.
Melodia has a mix of high energy, fast paced numbers, 60’s surf rock/pop and acoustic ballads. If there is one thing that the Vines do well, it is being able to do multiple styles without one overshadowing another. “Get Out” and “Manger” tear out of the gates, with the former being quite similar to “Gross Out” off of the last album, and the latter driven by quick drum fills and a mid-paced melody that wouldn’t sound out of place on Highly Evolved. “Jamola” is the shortest instrumental song the band has ever written and wouldn’t be out of place as the opening track to an early 80’s heavy metal album. First single “He’s A Rocker” is as simple sounding as the band has ever been, with a catchy chorus that will have the live crowds chanting like crazy.
The Vines’ love for everything 60’s is well known by their fans. “Orange Amber” and “Hey” are prime examples of the surf rock sound that the band hinted at in previous albums, without sounding dated or copying from earlier influences. Listening to “Orange Amber” takes the listener back to the days where LSD flowed like candy, where beach parties were “groovy,” and kids were doing the Twist on the streets.
Vision Valley had some great ballads, but Melodia goes well beyond the last album with two ballads that are the best the band has written. “A Girl I Knew” and closing track “She Is Gone” are almost connected by the same principle idea; the lost of true love. The hopelessness evident in Nicholls’ vocals and in the atmosphere of the songs transcends anything The Vines have ever written. If there needed to be an example of how mature the songwriting has gotten, these two tracks would be the prime evidence.
“True As The Night” is Melodia’s epic track, the unofficial sequel to “Vision Valley,” and a solid acoustic ballad. The violins and cellos are out in full force to provide that extra emotional impact to resonate with Nicholls’ somber vocals. It doesn’t reach the level of greatness that “Spaceship” set on the last album, but shows that the band isn’t all about two minute garage rock/acoustic tracks and have a few progressive bones in their bodies.
Melodia had a lot to live up to, believe it or not. While fans didn’t flock to Vision Valley, the album was the beginning of a new era for the band, a turning point to get them out of the funk that was Winning Days. Melodia continues the upward momentum, crafting 14 tracks of uptempo, catchy garage rock. While not as immediately memorable as their last album, it is more consistent and flows better from start to finish. The album may not make much of a splash here in the states, as no major retailer is selling it (except for ITunes), and the band’s popularity has waned a great deal over the years. If you were a fan of the band a few years ago, and wonder what happened to them, Melodia is a good place to start at.
The 411: Melodia is a good album that is a natural progression from Vision Valley. The band is finally back on track after a terrible sophomore effort. While this will probably be pushed aside by new albums by Miley Cyrus and Nas, rock fans would be wise to pick up Melodia, as The Vines have not only crafted 14 solid tracks, but the songwriting has matured a great deal, enough to show that the band still has some life left in them.
Posted By: Daniel Moore (Guest) on July 27, 2008 at 02:08 PM
For me, Vision Valley is probably one of the most underrated albums of all time. Melodia simply builds on this. The Vines now deserve some new recognition, they make REAL music.
Posted By: Ben (Guest) on August 17, 2008 at 01:51 PM
Melodia is welcome relief from vanilla rock and built-by-disney music. The singer's voice works perfectly with the songs which are a nice mix of grunge, trippy, sweet ballads & rock. I really hope the Vines keep making great music for the rest of us.
Posted By: J Marie (Guest) on September 05, 2008 at 10:01 PM
i don't understand why you're winning days bashing. the song winning days is a ballad of equal worth to anything they have written. i dunno, i think its awesome, and rainfall is a brilliant song too, your discouraging people from looking into that album.
Posted By: rory (Guest) on September 07, 2008 at 06:40 PM
