The Vines - Future Primitive

The Vines - Future Primitive
Genre: Garage Rock/Indie
Rating: 4/10

The Vines shot to fame way back in the early noughties with their 2002 debut album Highly Evolved. The early noughties saw a revival of sorts in both indie and garage rock with acts like The White Stripes and The Hives riding high on the charts and winning universal critical acclaim. However like most trends eventually the bubble burst and the critics turned on most of the leading proponents the notable exception being The White Stripes. The demise of the garage rock trend is deffinitely evident from the year delay between recording and release of Future Primitive and this is also notable as The Vines have funded this one without a record label in tow due to recent low sales of previous albums.

Future Primitive carries on from where 2008's album Melodia left off. The blue print has not changed and The Vines still continue to make the same sort of grungey lofi rock that won them accolades in 2002. Whilst many may argue the band should be championed for staying the course in spite of current trends what this ultimately amounts to is a record with nothing new to offer. The standard throughout the album is fairly consistent but the only real change is the use of a few more keyboards and samples which normally comes with a trade off in terms of riffing. Whilst the album isn't terrible it just doesn't have enough personality to stand a chance against the bands previous offerings. Another criticism is the length of the album whilst the Vines have never really made a long record much of the material on Future Primitive fails to even break the three minute mark. This works against the record quite severely as some tunes like the title track "Future Primitive" feel cut short. This makes the whole record feel slightly rushed and when it's been delayed by nearly a year that is a worrying sign. It's not all bad though. Highlights include "Black Dragon" a track that surges with the usual dismissive attitude whilst seeing the band experiment with synths and effects pedals create a sparse dark atmosphere. "Autumn Shade IV" is another exception to the flaws that blight most of the record and a welcome addition to the Autumn Shade series of tracks with its minimalist acoustic strum combined with subtle synth work.

Unfortunately Future Primitive seems to demonstrate a band that reached its creative peak long ago. Whilst there are a few standout tracks the album as a whole is dogged by to many flaws. Deffinately an album to sample before reaching for your wallet.

Download: "Future Primitive" "Black Dragon"