These guys have been pretty harsh in the past, but this is all good. This is from www.smh.com.au in the entertainment section
The Vines
Reviewed by Kelsey Munro
September 8, 2006
From the ashes with a vengeance
The Annandale Hotel, September 5
IT SEEMS fitting that the Vines' resurrection should begin in the place where it all went wrong.
In May 2004 at the Annandale, frontman Craig Nicholls lashed out at a photographer from the stage. Assault charges were later dropped when it was revealed he'd been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.
It seemed to signal the end for the volatile Sydney group which only two years earlier had sold 1.5 million copies of their debut album and had appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone.
There was a new album in April, but no shows to accompany it.
Then on Tuesday night, phoenix-like, the reunited Vines rose from the ashes and just tore it up. Save a few stumbles on slower numbers, when the momentum faltered slightly, they were excellent. At nose-bleeding volume, the gig was a persuasive reminder of the hyped early days of the band, when they were hailed as an incendiary mix of the Beatles and Nirvana.
The Vines were always wildly erratic as a touring band, but that was part of the appeal: watching a band capable of brilliance struggle to wrest it out of themselves every night. Sometimes they'd fail dismally, but for the fans it was always worth the risk. Most bands walk a contained, careerist line in their performances, so audiences are quick to recognise an edge of real unpredictability and danger. With their mercurial, temperamental frontman, the Vines had that edge. It got bigger than the band. Now they appear to have it better under control.
Nicholls's performance was powerful and absorbing, and it mercifully skipped the rote guitar-smashing of their earlier incarnation. He's a great rock screamer, but writes melodies as sweet as pie. His songwriting is incredibly effective within a limited range - there is no great variety in the Vines' sound. The lyrics are more often onomatopoeic howls than poetry. It really doesn't matter.
Guitarist Ryan Griffiths, drummer Hamish Rosser and new bass player Brad Heald are a tight, focused unit. They threw down their hits like firecrackers: Highly Evolved, Don't Listen to the Radio, Gross-Out, Outtathaway, Ride and their cover of Outkast's Mrs Jackson were highlights. They concluded a five-song encore with their undeniable slice of pop-rock perfection from 2002, Get Free.
On a good night, like this, the Vines are tough to beat.