The Vines - Vision lacking

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The Vines - Vision lacking

May 9th 2006 03:40

Artist Review

The Vines

I recently read that the lead singer of the Vines - Craig Nicholls - had a mental disorder that had similar results as extreme A.D.H.D, ie. a short attention span among other things. This is horribly apparent in their new album, "Vision Valley" where, apart from the last track - Spaceship - the songs don't manage to surpass the 3 minute mark. And I thought pop-punk bands were bad. I haven't seen an album this short since I first got into the early MXPX albums...

How, I ask, are you supposed to convey the desired emotion in 2 and a half short minutes? Short answer - you can't. Even their slow songs, which have some potential of touching listeners' hearts with the sweet acoustic rhythms, are harnessed closely by a 2 minute 45 second boundary (literally). That's why the entire album feels like a collection of song snippets, rather than an album itself. Its like going to their Myspace - this isn't an album experience in the slightest, but instead it feels more like an EP, designed to build an audience base rather than retain the one they built from their previous two album releases. Unfortunately, that's not really what they need right now.

There are extremely brief moments of pleasure for a listener - "Gross Out" is slightly reminiscent of "Ride," a previous single from their glory days. The last track "Spaceship" drones slightly but remains an ok song - too bad the rest of the album is completely horrible in comparison.

When I first saw that Metacritic had given the new album a rating of 57% (an average of various reviews) I could only but laugh, but now I completely understand. In short (horrible pun intended), this is a half hour listening experience most people can do without. The Subways do a better job of creating the heavy, scream-laden music that the Vines became famous for, and Jet, while not great, are certainly better at making music reminiscent of the 70s. Move right past this album in the CD stores and onto something better - try the new Chili Peppers album (review this Friday).

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Posted By: Jimbo - Category: Artist Review

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Comments

5 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Cibbuano

May 9th 2006 05:55

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ouch, harsh review!

I don't mind short songs... especially if they're mixed together..

Comment by Jimbo

May 9th 2006 06:18

I have no qualms with short songs, but a whole album of them results in a lack of an album.

Comment by amy

May 9th 2006 12:10

Well there's an entire Triple J program dedicated to "Short, Fast, Loud" music - sounds like the Vines'd fill the criteria...

Have they started touring againey gave it away for a while as an investment in their careers - too much pissing off the public - and not in a cool way, like biting the heads of bats and spitting them at the front row.