The Vines certainly have some musical qualities that are reminiscent of grunge. Guitar tone/effect, screaming technique, and stupid lyrics all seem to be borrowed from the great grunge era. While the Vines have inevitably been compared to Nirvana (as are many rock groups that want to sell records these days), I would compare them more to Alice In Chains or Stone Temple Pilots in terms of guitar sound and vocals to an extent. The Vines are typical of many grunge bands of old in that they set up the listener to anticipate that pop hook that never quite comes.

Lyrically The Vines come across as kind of shallow and repetitive. This kind of pulls the rest of the album down. Highly evolved is fine to listen to in the background, but it's really not something to listen to intently.

The Vines aren't the savior of grunge, but they aren't all bad either. Perhaps, what The Vines are best at is being average. Highly Evolved is an easy listen, just not a very engaging one.