So why is The Vines’ Highly Evolved on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
There was a wave of popular rock bands that came out of New York City in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s – I’m thinking chiefly about The Strokes, Vampire Weekend, and Interpol here – that frankly I just never fully got with.
Maybe in part it’s because I moved from New York City to California around that time, or more likely I was just a wee bit older by that era – post-college and getting my career going – and I was no longer in the sonic demo for these sounds and scene.
In more recent years, when I’ve had the time and space to… explore the space – as our friend Mr. Bruce Dickinson (yes, the Bruce Dickinson) of I gotta have more cowbell fame, would say – I’ve had my mind blown by bands from that era ranging from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to LCD Soundsystem to Le Tigre.
But I also clearly recall a band out of Australia called The Vines releasing Highly Evolved in 2002 and thinking immediately that this is the exact sound that hits my particular sonic demo: sweetly aggressive garage punk with monster hooks, leavened with a pop sensibility that makes their output highly re-listenable.
The album kicks off with the title track, “Highly Evolved,” and I love that there’s zero preamble: we get chunky chords and lead singer Craig Nicholls popping in with:
I’m feelin’ happy
So highly evolved
My time’s a riddle that’ll never be solved
The band’s sound pulls in a wide range of punk rock and alt rock influences. I’d call out bands like The Hives and The Dandy Warhols in terms of garage rock/punk with flavors of psychedelia and pop punk, in addition to “grunge” bands, especially Stone Temple Pilots.
“Outtathaway” and “Get Free” are probably the best songs on Highly Evolved, though it’s a pretty close call. Both are hard rocking, catchy, and primed well for heavy MTV rotation and rock radio airplay.
And then songs such as “Autumn Shade” and “In The Jungle” show off a slower, somewhat softer, and dare I say grungy sound that dabbles a little in The Smashing Pumpkins and Alice in Chains territory.
Some stats & info about The Vines – Highly Evolved
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Alternative Rock, Post Grunge, Garage Punk, Pop Punk, Australian Bands
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Highly Evolved released? 2002
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #307 out of 1,000
The Vines’ Highly Evolved on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from The Vines’ Highly Evolved that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
I’m gonna get free, ride into the sun.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.