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The Vines 4th album is a wonder...

In the past, I never really paid much attention to the Vines. They were a band that swept past me and I never bothered to take note. Upon hearing they were releasing their fourth studio album ‘Melodia’ I decided I should give this one a listen and see what, if anything, I was missing out on.

I have no comparison to the bands previous material, so taking this release in its solitary state, it seems I was missing out on a band with a varied style in music. Creating tracks that merge alternative and garage rock, with sounds that, on occasions, can be quite difficult to classify. Each of the fourteen tracks is quite short and together barely half-hour long. As a whole, this release didn’t really float my boat.

The majority of the tunes here are loud and contain some very strong and powerful guitar riffs; some occasionally becoming too thunderous for me that they gave me shivers, the scary kind such as ‘Braindead’. Others like ‘Orange Amber’ contain these features, yet in a more tranquil nature. They flow like an indie record instead of anything too intense such as ‘Hey’. ‘Jamola’ is the oddest thing I found this release to contain; it is a minute long scramble of music.

There are a few exceptions to this, where the beat drops a few decibels and the sentiment settles. ‘A.S. III’ is less than two minutes long, but the mild rhythms make a dent among the more upbeat tunes. Likewise, the six-minute long ‘True as the Night’ is a wonderful song you can really settle down and listen to. A drum beats away, guitars picker along, the vocals flow and as it approaches the half way mark really becomes beautiful. ‘A Girl I Knew’ is a tender song where you can relate to the lyrics, regarding the loss of a relationship.

As I listened to ‘She Is Gone’, the closing track on this release, I thought to myself, regardless of the more concentrated and ear-piercing sounds on this album, the remainder of the tunes are really enjoyable. Some you will be able to connect with, others just enjoy the simple flowing of melodies. Most of the songs may not be my cup of tea, but they may be yours.