The Vines - Winning Days

Early calls that frontman Craig Nicholls is a genius appear to be unfounded, with The Vines unfortunately named second album Winning Days.

After opening with the menacing, grunge single Ride, the follow up to Highly Evolved, runs through a series of unfulfilled tracks.

Instead, a couple of moderate tracks, including TV Pro and the title track, fail to rescue an album that like Nicholls's own fragile character, lacks any direction or consistency and eventually goes out with a resounding whimper.

And while much of the rock world is beginning to look back to the 60s and 70s for its roots, Nicholls and The Vines seem stuck somewhere between post-Grunge, their contemporaries and rock's rebirth in the mid-to-late 90s.

Paul Cook

Joy Zipper -- American Whip

It's not often I'm completely blown away by a band on first listen these days, but Joy Zipper were always going to be one of those astonishing exceptions.

The boy-girl duo recognise the beauty of fuzzy multi-layered guitars and lazy seductive vocals that fuse My Bloody Valentine with Mazzy Star.

Unlike other male/female outfits that cite the shoegazing era as their primary influence, The Kills and The Ravonettes for example, Joy Zipper use that ethereal production but combine it with rich melodies that draw you in effortlessly.

If you're into early 90s guitar bands, Joy Zipper are for you.

James Heward