Rock and live music have made a belated comeback after club culture dwarfed pub culture. Now it seems everyone wants to grow their hair and pick up a guitar. The problem is that only a few of those people can actually write songs. One of them is Craig Nichols, much-maligned frontman of The Vines, unquestionable forerunners of 'new rock'. Winning Days follows the debut album that launched this band into Top 10 chart positions all over the world, but while temptation could have resulted in a duplication of the old formula, Rob Schnapf's production aims for the middle ground that was completely avoided on Highly Evolved, best illustrated when comparing a song like Autumn Shade with Get Free. This time the extremes are rare and thick layers of textured guitars make for a beefy backing to Nichols' undoubted flair for writing good tunes. The most obvious sacrifice is the sparse and exposed instrumentation, which added to the raw appeal of rock numbers on The Vines debut, but this is a more complex interpretation of songs and will need more than one listen. Like the single, Ride, songs like TV Pro and Evil Town don't immediately stand out; they emerge slowly, gaining appeal after numerous spins. I don't dare pass judgement on the tracks that are yet to impress because I have a feeling they'll become favourites in time. It's that type of album. Whether it was the original intention, Winning Days is a darker album that invites the listener to explore its depths; a richer-sounding effort from a band that gained instant notoriety through unbridled energy.

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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

Full listing of THE VINES releases