LOS ANGELES (Vines Official Website) - The Vines' Winning Days, the follow-up to the Australian quartet's 2002 hit debut Highly Evolved, will be released on March 23rd. The album finds the group back with producer Rob Schnapf (Beck, Guided by Voices, Elliott Smith), revealing a more melodically textured set of songs that retain all of the band's infamously primal edge.
Scathing album track "FTW" (Fuck The World) will be released digitally worldwide today, December 15th. In America the song will be available for one month at all U.S. digital retailers and can also be streamed at www.thevines.com. Despite the title, the song is not just a blistering punk anthem, but is a commentary on the state of the world's environment. The digital single will come with the same artwork that accompanies the corresponding 7" single, which will be available promotionally at select retailers.
The Vines' history is a complete whirlwind: going from four unknown music fans in Sydney recording songs to old cassettes to one of the most talked-about new bands in rock - scoring a hit with lead single "Get Free," headlining massive festivals, landing on the cover of Rolling Stone, and selling more than 1.5 million copies of their debut worldwide.
After finishing their 18-month world tour with a triumphant sold-out show at London's Brixton Academy, Craig Nicholls (vocals/guitar), Patrick Mathews (bass/vocals), Ryan Griffiths (guitar) and Hamish Rosser (drums) jumped on a plane, promptly passed out cold and awoke in the famous Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, NY, where they would begin rehearsing and recording songs for the new album in a rustic barn. Finding themselves in solitude for the first time since they left Sydney, The Vines were able to finally relax and rediscover their main love - recording.
The positive title of Winning Days is perhaps the first clue that the album is taking a slightly warmer approach than its gritty predecessor. The instruments sound like they did in Bearsville - electric guitars coming straight through old valve amps onto tape, drum heads audibly put through their paces, acoustic guitars pushed to the front, and Nicholls' layered harmonies reaching heights that had previously only been hinted at.
While the band has maintained their ability to create incredibly primal rock n' roll - like the unbridled guitar fireworks of lead single "Ride" and the dark and alluring "Animal Machine" - Winning Days sees The Vines orbiting more musical planets than ever before.
Upbeat folk songs like "Rainfall" and "Sunchild" sit alongside the way-out psychedelia of "TV Pro" and pretty acoustic balladry of "Autumn Shade 2" and "Amnesia." It's the sound of a band venturing far beyond the promise of their first album into a realm of greatness that is uniquely their own.
The Vines 'Winning Days' tracklisting:
1. Ride
2. Animal Machine
3. TV Pro
4. Autumn Shade 2
5. Evil Town
6. Winning Days
7. She's Got Something to Say to Me
8. Rainfall
9. Amnesia
10. Sunchild
11. Fuck the World
