Wicked Nature

Wicked Nature is the sixth studio album by Australian alternative rock band The Vines. It was released on 2 September 2014. The double album is the band's first release under their own label Wicked Nature Music. The release marks a few milestones for The Vines, with frontman Craig Nicholls taking on the role of producer for the first time, as well as introducing a completely new rhythm section with drummer Lachlan West and bassist Tim John. Much of the funding for the album came from music funding website PledgeMusic.[12]

Wicked Nature
Studio album by The Vines
Released	2 September 2014
Recorded	2012–2013
Genre	Alternative rock, garage rock, post-grunge, neo-psychedelia
Length	32:20 (disc one) 22:00 (disc two) 54:20 (total)
Label	Wicked Nature Music
Producer	Craig Nicholls and Paul McKercher
The Vines chronology
Future Primitive (2011) Wicked Nature (2014) In Miracle Land (2018)
Singles from Wicked Nature
"Metal Zone" Released: 10 July 2014

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	63/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Clash	2/10[3]
DIY	[4]
Drowned in Sound	4/10[5]
FasterLouder	[6]
The Guardian	[7]
musicOMH	[8]
NME	7/10[9]
Nothing But Hope And Passion	3/5[10]
Rolling Stone Australia	[11]

Background

In late 2011, drummer Hamish Rosser and guitarist Ryan Griffiths left the band, as did bassist Brad Heald in early 2012. On 16 March 2012, Rosser spoke to music website Faster Louder about the departure, saying "Part of the reason for falling out with Craig is that I've always enjoyed playing in more than one band at any given time," and that "this was always an issue with Craig." He also mentioned that the band had "broken up", although "Craig will always write great music in the future and he may choose to carry on under The Vines' name."[13]

On 20 August 2012, a new line-up, consisting of Nicholls, drummer Lachlan West and bassist Tim John, entered the studio to record the band's sixth album. Originally intended to be a single album, the first disc was recorded with producer Paul McKercher at Sydney's Rancom Studios. Whilst mixing the album, the trio worked on songs for what would become the second disc. In 2013, the band entered Sydney's Jungle Studios with Lachlan Mitchell and recorded ten tracks over a five-day period.[14]

On 2 July 2014, a new song, "Out the Loop" was made available on the band's Soundcloud page.[15] On the same day, the band announced the PledgeMusic page for Wicked Nature and made 3 new songs available as a free download for those who pre-ordered the album.[12] On 10 July, the video for lead single "Metal Zone" was released. The song has since reached #2 on Speciality Radio in the United States[16] and the album debuted #29 on the ARIA Albums Charts in Australia.[17]

Track listing

Disc one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Metal Zone"	2:24
2.	"Ladybug"	2:29
3.	"Green Utopia"	2:25
4.	"Psychomatic"	2:02
5.	"Killin the Planet"	3:24
6.	"Anything You Say"	1:42
7.	"Venus Fly Trap"	2:34
8.	"Good Enough"	1:54
9.	"Out the Loop"	1:23
10.	"Rave It"	2:58
11.	"Wicked Nature"	4:35
12.	"Into the Fire"	4:00
Total length:		32:20

Disc two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Reincarnation"	1:56
2.	"Love Is Gone"	1:52
3.	"Truth"	2:19
4.	"Slightly Alien"	2:14
5.	"Everything Else"	2:22
6.	"Fly Away"	1:41
7.	"Girl I Want"	2:22
8.	"Clueless"	1:59
9.	"Darkest Shadow"	2:05
10.	"Funny Thing"	3:39
Total length:		22:00

Personnel

• Craig Nicholls – vocals, guitar, co-producer of disc one, producer of disc two
• Tim John – bass
• Lachlan West – drums
• Paul McKercher – co-producer of disc one
• Lachlan Mitchell – co-producer of disc two

Chart performance

Chart (2014)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18]	29

References

1. "Wicked Nature – The Vines". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
2. Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "Wicked Nature – The Vines". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
3. Taylor, Benji (1 September 2014). "The Vines – Wicked Nature". Clash. Music Republic Ltd. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
4. Boon, Henry. "The Vines – Wicked Nature". DIY. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
5. Robertson, Derek (10 September 2014). "Album Review: The Vines – Wicked Nature". Drowned in Sound. Silentway. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
6. Woodward, Matthew (28 August 2014). "The Vines – Wicked Nature". FasterLouder. Sound Alliance. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
7. Dennis, Jon (28 August 2014). "The Vines: Wicked Nature review – unsubtle but effective grunge nuggets". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
8. Baber, Andy (9 September 2014). "The Vines – Wicked Nature". musicOMH. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
9. Beaumont, Mark (31 August 2014). "The Vines – 'Wicket Nature'". NME. Inspire. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
10. Boerger, Henrik (3 September 2014). "The Vines – 'Wicket Nature'". Nothing But Hope And Passion. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
11. Divola, Barry (10 September 2014). "The Vines – Wicked Nature". Rolling Stone Australia. Paper Riot Pty Ltd. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
12. "The Vines: Wicked Nature". PledgeMusic. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
13. "Vines drummer joins Wolfmother; claims The Vines have "broken up"". Fasterlouder.com.au. 16 March 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
14. "The Vines". Ish Media. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
15. "The Vines - Out the Loop". The Vines. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
16. "The Vines Score #2 US Debut With 'Metal Zone'". TheMusic.com.au. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
17. "ARIA Albums Charts". ARIA Charts. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
18. "Australiancharts.com – The Vines – Wicked Nature". Hung Medien.