The rise and fall of The Vines

#thevines #musicdocumentary #documentary
I spent all summer long in 2002 listening to 'Highly Evolved' over and over and it still evokes hazy teenage memories for me. It's a classic album and I won't hear any different!
But when researching this video I dug out all my old NME magazines and some of the coverage about Craig Nicholls and his mental health was really shocking and even sadistic by today's standards. It was clear he was struggling, but the music press - and his label - egged him on and sent him out to tour relentlessly when it was clear the machine was making him suffer. I felt really sad for Craig reading some of these old articles and hope he's doing better now.
But through it all, I believe he has been a pioneer for being open about mental health in music and for being a neurodivergent rock star. He was a one-off and the Vines were by far the Australian band of the era.
In this video I get into how the band met whilst flipping burgers at Mcdonald's, when Craig trashed Jay Leno's green room, their rapid ascent that saw them declared the future of rock by Rolling Stone, Craig's Asperger's diagnosis and the media's insensitive coverage of mental health in the 2000s.
There's also a great clip towards the end of Craig performing 'Get Free' with The Killers in 2018!
What's your favourite song on 'Highly Evolved'?

[@seanmcgoldrick1702]

Met Ryan Griffiths on a night out in Coogee Sydney in 2004. Was by myself having a few beers in the Coogee bay hotel before heading to a gig in the city centre to watch Sparta - Supergrass were playing at the CBH. Nice friendly guy. Had a few beers and chatted music and brought up the Nirvana comparisons lol.

[@mw5158]

Winning Days is a great album. Way underrated...songs like Rainfall, Sun Child, Ride, title track, etc. They really should've been bigger in the states imo.

[@boyruns]

Their cover of the Beatles’ I’m only sleeping is 🔥🔥

[@mybonesmyflute5925]

Been digging back into them and I really love ‘em. Think they’ll get more respect and understanding as the years roll on

[@watermusic4381]

Very nice doc there mate. Keep em coming.

[@eurikadude]

Craig has a great ear for melodies, it's a shame they sort of got shunned away from the spotlight after their second album

[@pumpvolumes]

ahh my childhood, id give anything to go back, before apple music etc, when going to record shops was it

[@valpreston1393]

Amazing video ❤

[@AshArAis]

Your voice has a very specific cadence

[@WordUnheard]

Reminds me of the "Succulent Chinese meal" guy from this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpbFd2WZnNJ5o7c

[@user-bj2lu9qt3o]

​@@WordUnheard😂

[@chiefcrowtheflatearthworms3259]

Saw them a few times during there first 2 us tours. Criag would break or throw his guitar and scream every song, even during the slow songs. I liked it but most of the crowd wasnt really into it. There bigday out set for the 2002 sums up the stage show. Also the lettermen show

[@davekennedy6315]

There have also been numerous recent murderers that have later been shown to have Aspergers! Certainly no excuse in my eyes.

[@GilesLimescale]

love the content mate, when u drop a video I start rubbing myself off with a ceravie moisturising lotion and the squishy noise I make complements your commentary, keep up the good work.

[@milesbuckley3973]

would love a video about the cribs

[@indiesleaze]

I did a video on 'The New Fellas' a few months ago...but will definitely do another soon.

[@milesbuckley3973]

@@indiesleaze didn’t see that will check it out now

[@peytonparabdeen2413]

My middle name is nirvana and I have Asperger's

[@thecosmicblueautie]

It's too bad this wasn't released on April 2nd to celebrate Autie Awareness Day.

[@mw5158]

🔥🔥🔥🤟🤟🤟METAL ZONE🤟🤟🤟🔥🔥🔥!!!!!!!

[@michawieczorek3692]

Plz the Rapture

[@justinwilliam4644]

Sky gazer❤

[@shane505]

I remember all the hype very well. Listening back to it now though, that debut album is bang average. But a good band overall.

[@jezo-matic991]

Y'all trying to steal clout from the indiesleaze Instagram?

[@indiesleaze]

Obviously!

[@standinsilence]

Im still trying to decide what band was worst: These guys or Silverchair?

[@charliepitt06]

Both are good Aussie bands of the 90s/00s but silverchair was a bit more of a one hit wonder then the vines who had more hit songs

[@_Adam_-]

​@@charliepitt06no way, you are tripping boy. Silverchair have won more arias than any other artists ever. You don't win arias if you ain't making hits.

[@ab8817]

this was not an indie band

[@TheMusicalElitist]

No they weren’t. They were on a major.