The vaccines album review
The short of it is that The Vaccines are very good at this. On a tune such as the thoughtful “I Can’t Quit” this is writ large, but it’s also there on more thrusting, lively cuts such as “Nightclub”. The Vaccines’ sound bears especial comparison to the American acts who did this, the likes of The Knack, The Cars, The Go-Go’s, The Romantics and Martha and the Muffins who bridged the world of sweaty, parochial underground clubs and slick, nationwide FM radio. After the original late Seventies’ punk explosion various bands embraced the energy but not the gnarly, lo-fi ethos. Once upon a time this sound was called “power pop”. On Combat Sports this five-piece re-engage with the tuneful, new-wavey rock that made the band’s name.
Drummer Pete Robinson has left, to be replaced by Yoann Intonti of fellow London major-indie outfit Spector, and keyboard-player Tim Lanham has also joined. In any case, The Vaccines 2018 is a different band. It was an experiment they’re now, perhaps, less sure about. It appeared to be a stab at moving sideways from the previous two, at proving they were more than just a guitar band in the classic indie mould, that they could also be studio-produced into the realms of polished pop. In a final possible reference to Best Coast, Wavves, and their stoned sunshine set, Young wonders aloud if everybody really feels "as high as a kite": "Well, I don't really know if they do, but they might." An old "MADtv" sketch comes to mind: "Lowered Expectations".Three years ago The Vaccines’ last album, English Graffiti, received a mixed response. The most awkward moment is slo-mo finale "Family Friend", which builds to an embarrassingly neutered wall-of-noise crescendo. beach-pop crowd, and then another time on the dreary "All in White", which occupies much the same U2-echoing expanse as lesser bands the Temper Trap or White Lies. Previous NME favorites Glasvegas already have the "swooning anthems with girl-group beats" thing pretty much covered, but the Vaccines do it here twice: over droning organ on "Wetsuit", which again recalls the U.S. It's easy enough to imagine the Vaccines' slower songs going over well with an outdoor crowd drunk on sun and beer. "Under Your Thumb", for its part, appears to take critic Ellen Willis's argument that the Rolling Stones' similarly titled tirade actually isn't sexist as a challenge to write a song about a man completely submitting to his (presumably, female- name's Eleanor, anyway) lover. But there's also "Blow It Up", which borrows from the Beatles' "I Should Have Known Better" a little too blatantly to enjoy in its own right. Take "If You Wanna", which bops likably along like a somewhat higher-fidelity Best Coast as Young warbles about an ex he'd take back in a second, or "Nørgaard", a playfully loutish ode to a Danish model. The Vaccines are at their best when they're upbeat, flecked with surf, and surprisingly hard to get out of your head. Then again, there's no shame in catchy, concise, sharply executed tunes that communicate mildly fresh takes on relationships, either- and this album has more than a few. Sure, the band's buzzing guitars, thick reverb, and bouncy rhythms lack any particular spark of originality that might help listeners avoid compulsively thinking of names like Ramones, the Jesus and Mary Chain, or, yes, the Strokes. For better or worse, there's nothing here that warrants either such reaction, let alone the paroxysms of hyperbole going on in the British press. The answer, on that song, is that we should expect a chance to forget our past loves for a little while, followed by a sense of overwhelming guilt. The real joke of the album title, after all, is that it raises the same question the band posed of "Post Break-Up Sex" on their bombastic, pleasant-enough second single.
Led by singer Justin Young, who previously played indie-folk under the name Jay Jay Pistolet, and guitarist Freddie Cowan, whose older brother is in the Horrors, these guys know firsthand how hype can be a double-edged sword- one that has already propelled their meat-and-potatoes pub rock near the top of the UK album charts, to uncertain impact on their long-term reputations. The Vaccines, much to their credit, are savvier about expectations than their champions and critics alike.