WE'VE ALREADY SEEN THEM PLAY THE DEBUT GIG OF THE YEAR, NOW NME HOOKS UP WITH CRAZED AUSSIE PUNKERS THE VINES AT THE END OF THEIR FIRST JUNK FOOD-FUELLED UK TOUR 

Failing back into the dry ice, the whites of his rolled-back eyes catch the strobe. The red morn fills with a note screamed so loud that the demonic possession of Linda Blair in The Exorcist jumps back through the decades. Guitar held above his head, he rips out another burst of feedback. 

We are in Bristol, at the last show of The Vines' first British tour, and we're fast realising that their 24-year-old singer, guitarist and songwriter Craig Nicholls is a truly amazing frontman. Throughout the whole show, it just seems as if he's totally possessed. The next time we look up Craig's eyes have returned and the band are crunching into the next song, '1969' (opening lyrics: "It's 1969 in my head/Just want to have no place to go/Living for the sound of the dead/Can you get stoned?/Look around with my soul"). Craig's hands press hard against his face and the whites of his eyes roll back again. The crowd look stunned. 

As an introduction to this incredible band, it's difficult to think how tonight could have been bettered. 

As a band (and as people) The Vines are all over the place. Their songs veer wildly between extremes. One minute, they're summoning up a Nirvana-like blast, then, a track later, they drop into the kind of psychedelic rock ballad that headphones were made for. Their first UK release, 'Factory', was described by NME as "a punk reggae take on The Beatles". 

Craig and the other three members of the band have spent the six months since the release of that first record (a one-off seven-inch on Rex Records) recording a debut album in LA with Rob Schnapf, the producer of Beck's 'Odelay'. It was a fraught experience, but we'll get onto that later. As soon as it was finished, the band flew straight over to the UK for this tour. 

So far, the band have discovered Craig has a pathological hatred of flying, while the band's UK label (Heavenly) have found out something similar about his attitude towards rehearsals. Four songs into his first stint in a London studio, Craig got so pissed off he snapped his guitar in two. Rehearsals are now banned. Craig is clearly something of a one-off. 

Before tonight's equally amazing gig, NME meets up with him in a nearby pub. He's sitting with his thumb sticking up at a right angle from a hole in the sleeve of his black woolly jumper. Alongside him is his very relaxed bass player Patrick Mathews. They first joined forces six years ago in a Sydney branch of McDonald's. 

"Me and Pat started messing about with guitars in about '95 when I was 17," says Craig. "Pat plugged in the bass and we started off playing cover songs of the Kinks and Nirvana. After half a year we started coming up with our own stuff. We jammed once a week and I spent the rest of my time listening to music, which was lazy, but I loved it." 

Nirvana were your main inspiration? 

"When I was in high school the first album I got into when I truly discovered music was 'Nevermind'," says Craig. "Cobain was someone I respected and appreciated. 'Nevermind' was amazing; at high school I didn't understand the teachers and all the information coming at me. Then I discovered The Beatles and I got into other English bands like Shade, Swervedriver, The Verve, Supergrass and Manic Street Preachers. The number of English bands I like far outweighs the number of American bands." 

Patrick and Craig both grew up in a sedate, leafy suburb of Sydney. Craig left school two years early and worked in a graphic design studio. Patrick, now also 24, went to university, got a science degree and was halfway through a course in medicine when the chance to record in LA came up last July. 

"I would wake up, go to the studio, fall asleep, go to the studio, fall asleep and then go back to the studio. I just wanted to get the first album out of my head," recalls Craig. 

"I don't drink. I guess I like riding my skateboard and listening to music. I was just into music so much it just took over me, and then this band took over me. I shut myself away generally. I've always done my own thing, just created my own world, I guess. Wherever I am, even in Australia, I don't really go out. I just like to have a CD player around and a place where I can hang where there's not a lot of people talking and stuff." 

So most of the time the band are just songwriting and dreaming... 

"When I'm writing a song, I just want to escape," says Craig, looking around the room. "I don't want to sing about how I felt really shit yesterday. You can go places with music so why not create something really out there? I want this band to be a positive thing." 

The Vines (other members: Hamish Rosser on drums, Ryan Griffiths on guitar) are a clear case of rock possession. Craig is totally consumed by his music, and nothing else is allowed in. During the recording of their album, they existed on a speedy junk food diet of "whatever tastes good" (usually KFC or McDonald's), just so they wouldn't be distracted from the job in hand for too long. The E numbers, sugar and cola eventually took their toll. 

"I felt so bad," grimaces Craig. "Eating became like this chore. I didn't know if I was hungry or not hungry after I ate. I haven't learnt about anything else in the last four years since I've been obsessed with music and bands. I just never thought about food." 

Despite a diet that might shame Elvis, the band's energy levels remain remarkably high. Before they've even released their first proper single over here (which, incidentally, is the incendiary 95-second 'Highly Evolved'), they're already thinking about their second album. 

"I've already got it in my head," says Craig. "I already know what the songs are going to be, ten different tracks. We could go into-tomorrow and start the second album without having to do any more writing. I wouldn't mind that at all, I love recording so much." 

Onstage, ten minutes later, Craig is delivering a screaming performance which is so brilliant NME can barely believe it. 

After the show, his formerly pale skin is now a burnt red colour and streaked with sweat. 

So how are you going to celebrate now this tour is over? 

"We're going to the doctors," says Craig. "Everyone is sick. We're all sick and mixed up in the head. We've all thought about music too much. I've got to eat good if I want to live and keep making music. Someone's got to tell me what's going on..." 

His voice tails off and he wanders away. Truly, a man possessed.