

Even as they roared from some grimy Sydney shed back in '01, the wheels were deliciously loose on the runaway train called the Vines. Highly Evolved was a spring-loaded grunge-psychedelic salvo that swiped the covers of the NME and Rolling Stone en route to major chart action in the UK and US. But the headline-grabbing tantrums of wildcard frontman Craig Nicholls proved a mixed blessing as the band fragmented with the ironically titled Winning Days. A fresh start with Melodia brought the Vines back to pub-level potency in '08 and the 22-track sprawl of album six, Wicked Nature, bolstered Nicholls' cred as a tenacious indie rock maverick in 2014.