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Rating: * * *
The way Craig Nicholls sneered the words to Highly Evolved, the lead single from the debut album of the same name back in 2002, you could have picked he was a problem child waiting to explode. And he did. While that debut launched the band on to the international stage, making them the biggest Australian band in the world at the time, second album Winning Days didn't do as well and Nicholls' behaviour became erratic; abusing fans, assaulting a photographer ...
However, after another album, Vision Valley, and a few comings and goings, Nicholls and band are back on track and it's safe to say fourth album Melodia is a return to form. It rumbles into life, with the rough and ready Get Out and noisy eastern-tinged Manger, where Nicholls shows he can still scream and squirm with the best of them. Then there's the straight-ahead Oasis influenced He's A Rocker and Hey sounds like hokey 80s Australian stars the Hoodoo Gurus.
Elsewhere there's a solid mix of heart-felt and gentle numbers like Orange Amber, True As the Night, and She Is Gone, with some venomous spitters, like the distorted and maniacal Scream and the 59-second pummelling dished out on Jamola.
Melodia may not be highly evolved, but it's sure a lot more grown-up.
Scott Kara
