Highly Evolved

(Capitol)

With pop musicians becoming more like television stars than music stars ÷ thanks to heavy MTV rotation ÷ the world of music is long overdue for a new wave of musicians who donât need a glamorous video to get famous. (Although most of them have them anyway, just to make sure.)

Ask and ye shall receive.

Recently there have been different sounds making their way to popular radio thanks to breakthrough albums by The Strokes, the White Stripes and The Hives. Now comes the icing on the cake. The Vines are probably the best and most diverse sound to hit mainstream America in quite some time. The haunting Cobain kicker of it is this band is driven by a 24-year-old boy-wonder by the name of Craig Nicholls. Get used to hearing his name. Not only did he write all the music on this album, but he also created the albumâs cover art.

The Vineâs sound is a love child that belongs to all your favorite rock bands. The opening title track could have been Nirvanaâs next single if circumstances permitted. That might sound sacrilegious, but this band has nothing but potential. ãAutumn Shadeä is a spacey, psychedelic craftwork with Nicholls telling himself, ãKeep my head up.ä ãHomesickä has that dreamy, heart broken sound comparable to Radiohead circa The Bends.

ãThe Factoryä is straight Beatles, but with a sound still unique enough to be claimed by Nicholls and Co. This debut will likely raise the level of competition for the best new band in the world. What comes next? This should be interesting.