The Vaccines -The Vaccines Come Of Age
Record Label: Columbia Records
Release Date: September 3, 2012
It’s been a little over a year since The Vaccines burst into the musical consciousness with their debut album What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?, eleven tracks of sixties pop inflected indie rock delivered with posh accents and a confident swagger. After somehow managing to keep their heads above the cloud of hype and commercial success that they fell into the middle of, they have returned with another eleven tracks to tickle our catchiness taste buds, and provide us with another soundtrack to the summer. Despite their recent insistence otherwise to any music press that would listen, The Vaccines Come Of Age isn’t so much a drastic change in sound, but rather a refocus of influences. So, don’t worry if you’re a fan of three minute pop songs, they are certainly here in abundance. Come on, what did you expect from The Vaccines?
If you’ve never listened to The Vaccines before and your only knowledge of them comes from what the internet or the music press has put before you, try to forget everything you’ve heard. The Vaccines have been victims to quite a lot of unfair criticism none of which is directly related to their music. Whilst The Vaccines might not be trailblazers within their scene, they are certainly ahead of many of their peers, and having done the impossible of breaking away from the blogosphere and into the musical mainstream, they have managed to pen a handful of the catchiest indie tracks this year with their sophomore album, The Vaccines Come Of Age.
The album kicks off with single, “No Hope”. Justin Young’s trademark drawl, has a little more character in it, and has vastly improved from their debut. The track displays the band’s more punkish side, with a pogo-inspiring melody and simple but anthemic lyrics. It’s on tracks such as the opener that The Vaccines are at their best. Songs like "Teenage Icon" and "Aftershave Ocean" are filled with the ingredients that make The Vaccines the great band that they are. Spiky guitars, witty lyrics, and sugar sweet melodies are what The Vaccines do right. The album wears its influences on it’s sleeve, "I Always Knew" sounds like the sort of ballad that The Beatles would have written and ‘All In Vain’ is amazingly similar to cuts off Pet Sounds.
It’s when The Vaccines stray away from their main influences that they suffer. "Ghost Town" is slightly Cramps-esque and is by far the worst song from the release. Sounding almost like a novelty, the track contains some of their heaviest riffs, however the song holds no weight amongst the rest of the album.
Overall, The Vaccines have released a great album in the form of The Vaccines Come Of Age. Whilst it’s not going to change the world, it is certainly worthy of praise and any popularity that comes their way. So, if you want some catchy indie rock that will keep your attention, The Vaccines have certainly come of age.
Had really high hopes for this album after What Did You Expect... but while it doesn't suck its no where near as good as their first one. Its gonna be the Arctic Monkeys all over again isn't it? British band comes out of nowhere, release album chock full of energetic jams, then each successive album loses more and more energy, all the time remaining listenable, but still a far cry from what made everyone fall in love with them.
Browse Reviews
Write a Review
Alphabetized Listing
Popular Reviews
Best New Music
View Profile Picture
View Signature
Posts: 1,514
Currently Playing
View Blog
Follow This Review
More Reviews By This Author