| · Devolver.
Winning Days explodes out of the gate with two arrow-straight garage-grunge anthems "Ride" and "Animal Machine," and with that uninhibited opener, singer-songwriter Chris Nicholls instantly whips us two years into the past, back to the band’s star-struck debut Highly Evolved.
Utterly predictable and easily digested, this album baits the listener with Weezer-like persuasiveness. Just when it seems that The Vines mojo motor knows no satiety, they capitulate with the weepy drifter "Autumn Shade III," which could have borrowed lyrics from Morrissey’s diary.
Rarely do you see The Vines named in print independent of references to Nirvana, but in this case the group’s resemblance to the Brit-rock of the early ’60s sees them digress into the nether regions of polite rock. The title ballad "Winning Days" is marbled with shimmer-pop iridescence that thankfully gives way in the following tracks to sharp string and snare numbers that would have Souza nodding his head in approval. The proper edition of this effort is the endearingly unmarketable "Fuck the World," a stomp-and-holler fireball that is replaced by a remix of "Ride" on the clean version of the album.
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