he Vines have only put out two singles, and you've already heard that they're great, and that they'll be huge very, very soon. Kiss the Strokes goodbye, because those kids are done for. The Vines just flew in from Australia, and they don't call that place Oz for nothing- these boys are magical and they'll be everything you ever wanted in a rock'n'roll band! They're the second coming of Nirvana! The Sex Pistols! The motherfucking Beatles! This is it! THIS IS IT!


"This record had better be good," I said to myself before I put it on, not with skepticism but with loving anticipation, because I really did want the Vines to come through. They're under enormous pressure to be brilliant, because if they turn out to be all the things people say they are, we really have arrived. Some say the hype could prove disastrous, that the watched pot never boils. To me, though, hype is a beautiful and necessary phenomenon. It generates excitement and stirs up our imaginations, and above all, it's absolutely natural. Things don't just come out of nowhere these days, you know.


Having said that, "Highly Evolved" is fantastic. It crashes along, bitter and invigorating, as Craig Nicholls, the most charismatic frontman since Kurt Cobain, spits at expectations and restrictions, gets free and goes. "I'm feeling happy/so highly evolved/Just waiting for the sun to carry me in," he snarls on the opening number. His attitude is abrasive and infectious, determined to come out ahead, all by himself. "I'm gonna get free/I'm gonna get free/I'm gonna get free/ride into the sun..." he screams on the first single, not because he's desperate, but because he's fiercely devoted to achieving everything he ever wanted. He paints a picture of a confused, newly liberated youth, marred by regret but spurred on by promise. It's gripping and beautiful, animal in spirit.


The rest of the album is much more ambiguous, both lyrically and musically. The Vines show their influences to be wider than just Nirvana and Iggy Pop, adding nods to the Byrds, the Beatles, and Radiohead even on the album's slower numbers. They do a great job of it, even if they can't apply the energy of the straight ahead songs to the more experimental ones. "I’m tired of feeling sick and useless," Craig croons on "Homesick," building tension and showing misery with the tone of his voice until the cathartic, angry release of the chorus. This song and "Autumn Yard" are about stagnation and inexplicable discontent, and the Vines nail the feeling. The melodies are flawless, the harmonies impeccable, and the story Craig tells stays consistent, endearing, and captivating.


Of course, Highly Evolved is more derivative than groundbreaking, but what could you expect from an album this basic? All of its inspiration and subject matter comes from the bare bones of the human condition, playing on people's childish fuck-mom-and-dad impulses and what-do-I-do-now insecurities. Cool, worried, and full of promise, the Vines are youth. Even though they're not really the second coming of anything, their soul is authentic and thrilling, and their music, although, once again, nothing new, combines the best elements of a lot of great bands.


To view the Vines as simply a crossroads of influences isn’t giving them enough credit, though. At first, I thought they were just one more in a long line of faceless label-funded Strokes clones, but the Vines’ individuality shines through even if Capitol’s intentions do lie solely in marketing. I read an interview with Craig held right before the Vines’ live debut in America, and his personality completely won me over, showing me just how unique this band actually is. Craig is worried all the time, as enthusiastic as a child, and with every nervous word he says, his fingers can be heard grasping for sanity. As cliche as the phrase has become lately, Craig is a genuine rock star, and his winning charisma makes the Vines irresistible. The bands that influenced them did much more than affect the band’s music- they shaped them as people. Hearing those roots on record is interesting, to say the least, and the obvious presence of outside inspiration only makes the album more compelling. Don’t ignore it just because you want something "more" in your music. Take Highly Evolved for what it is- endearing, inspired, and youthful. Exactly as it should be.