Many wrote off The Vines after front man Craig Nicholls crashed Icarus-like from critical adoration to adversity within a year, publicly melting under the media spotlight. But, his diagnosis with Asperger s Syndrome having helped matters somewhat, third a

Many wrote off The Vines after front man Craig Nicholls crashed Icarus-like from critical adoration to adversity within a year, publicly melting under the media spotlight.

But, his diagnosis with Asperger's Syndrome having helped matters somewhat, third album Vision Valley is The Vines back to prove what they're made of.

And, as with 2002 debut Highly Evolved, the Aussies prove to be made of high-quality punk rock with an ear for the charts (Gross Out is the highlight - a fantastic full-on slab of rock distilled into 77 seconds) and blissed-out, sometime-psychedelic swathes of guitar, strings and piano, culminating in the six-minute sigh, Spaceship.

The Vines are back in style. 4/5