TMN RETROSPECTIVE REPORT: Aussie rock invasion – 2002

TMN celebrates two decades in this ever-shifting music industry by taking a look back at the key moments – both triumphant and tumultuous – in the Australian music business.

2002
AUSSIE ROCK INVASION

“The Vines are going to be bigger than U2, Gareth Gates and Nickelback combined.” With that typically hyperbolic claim, the NME caused A&R reps from all corners to fly across the world and begin hunting for the next saviours of rock. Bands that had been getting by on distorted drop-D riffs mere months earlier sacked their turntablists, donned skinny jeans and leather jackets and started studying ‘70s rock records in earnest.

Of the hundreds of bands that copped Stooges’ riffs and Stones’ swagger, only Melbourne’s Jet were truly unearthed during this time, signing to Capitol, selling more than 3.5 million copies of their debut record Get Born, and touring with The Rolling Stones. The Vines, the band that started this brief love affair with Australian rock acts, seemed a separate entity to the others, with a polar sound split evenly between the pastoral and the visceral. Their debut record Highly Evolved debuted at #11 in the US, and #3 in the UK.

Our year on year reports are published courtesy of the Australian Music Industry Quarterly magazine. For your free copy click here.