From the party and pub scene of Sydney, Peter Holmes tracks our climbing Vines.

The Vines have been famous for about five minutes, yet the story of the Sydney rock band is already brimming with tales of intrigue, severely bruised friendships, corporate meddling, fast-food habits, anxiety attacks and booze.

Hailed by influential British music weekly New Musical Express (NME) as "the best band since Nirvana" and named by EMI/Virgin's chairman and CEO Alain Levy as one of the label's four global priorities in 2002 (with Robbie Williams, Coldplay and Norah Jones), The Vines have become a textbook case in how a handful of good songs, a dynamic singer, a wad of money and a barrelful of hype can launch a little-known act into the stratosphere.

Fuelled by over-the-top British press reports, The Vines have been adopted by tastemakers as the hippest band around, and by this time next year millions of dollars will have been ploughed into ensuring the message reaches teens and 20-somethings throughout North America, Asia and Europe.

The Vines were formed six years ago by Craig Nicholls, David Olliffe and Patrick Matthews, three teenagers living between Arncliffe and Oatley in Sydney's southern suburbs, and later added guitarist Ryan Griffiths to the line-up. The Vines had barely racked up 20 live performances at parties and pubs in Sydney when they were signed to Engine Room last year and whisked off to Los Angeles to record a debut album.

Based in Alexandria, Engine Room is owned by Andrew Klippel, the brains behind 1990s dance act Euphoria, and James Packer. Its four acts - Holly Valance, Carla Werner, Lash and The Vines - have all signed recording and publishing deals with the label.

Engine Room managing director Todd Wagstaff first saw the band play at the Annandale Hotel in November 2000 after copping a tip from the night's headlining band Youth Group.

"It was far from great," Wagstaff recalled. "The show was fairly shambolic. But I saw a powerful live performer in Craig: an incredible voice, a real personality on stage and an unusual manner of delivery."

The Vines, who had built up a stock of songs, went cold-calling with a raw 20-song demo CD. Wagstaff liked what he heard, signed the band and bypassed Australia, negotiating deals with foreign labels including XL, Heavenly and Capitol/EMI.

"We develop the artist and take full responsibility for the first phase of their career financially," Wagstaff said, "but our intention is to then find international partners based in the US and UK. The idea is to ensure that when a record comes out, it is a priority."

The drooling press coverage began last year when the melodic tune Factory was chosen as single of the week by NME writer James Oldham.

"By the end of last year [The Vines] were called the most important new artist by NME and moving through this year they've been called the coolest band on the planet, the hottest band on the planet, the best band since amplification," Wagstaff said.

Oldham was subsequently invited to hang out with the band in LA for an NME cover story in which he variously described The Vines or their debut album Highly Evolved as "brilliant", "a masterpiece" and "amazing".

The Vines arrived in LA in July last year to record their debut album with producer Rob Schnapf (Foo Fighters, Beck, Moby). Various pressures, including working six days a week in a $1,600-a-day studio, began to force cracks to appear in decade-old friendships. Drummer Olliffe, who reportedly clashed with Schnapf, is no longer a part of the group and has been replaced by Hamish Rosser from Sydney's north shore.

Some of Olliffe's parts survived on Highly Evolved while others were re-recorded by costly session players including Pete Thomas and Joey Waronker. Hampered by stodgy tracks such as Mary Jane and In The Jungle, the result is hardly a masterpiece, yet it is a fine album from a talented group.

Olliffe is not talking to the media but his older brother, Michael, who has known the band since its inception, spoke to Sunday Metro last week.

"There was a version of events in and around [The Vines] organisation suggesting David quit while he was in LA," Michael Olliffe said. "From what I've gathered [there was] a very rough plan to remove David."

When The Vines played an exclusive gig in front of 150 industry wheels at LA's Viper Room last year, Olliffe said, crowd members were criticising the musicianship of his brother and bassist Patrick Matthews. "That's pressure," Olliffe said. "You're trying to record an album and all these people are putting in their two cents' worth."

Olliffe also said he was "furious" at reports of singer Nicholls intimating that his brother had a drinking problem.

"Friendships had been strained immeasurably," he said. "It was really insensitive and inaccurate. I think people want to please [Nicholls] at the moment and he does and says what he likes. Fair enough, they let rock stars do that."

Nicholls was unavailable for comment but bassist Matthews said David Olliffe was not sacked, nor did he quit. "It was sort of halfway between," Matthews said from Atlanta. "I don't think he really wanted to tour. Whether he was removed, or whatever, I thought it would work if we got Hamish in the band."

However, Olliffe said The Vines as a live act were "always dangerously close to being despicably bad, but that was the exciting thing about them".

The new polished sound attracted mixed live reviews in the US last week. The Boston Globe described The Vines as "masters" of punk-pop while The Boston Herald's harsh commentary concluded that The Vines "came across like a marketing team's vision of a garage-punk band".

Highly Evolved is available through Engine Room/EMI.

Highly delighted

The Vines' first album Highly Evolved, recorded over six months at $1,600-a-day studios in LA, recently entered the UK pop charts at No.3. The run continued with a No.5 debut on the local ARIA chart last Monday and a No.11 debut on the US chart on Wednesday. Bassist Patrick Matthews, on a tour bus, said he would celebrate the US success playing video games and smoking a joint.