The Vaccines

What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?

Written by: TL on 04/04/2011 23:40:38

It's been a while since I last lashed out against the British hype-machine (see: NME) but if there is currently a band one cannot write about without also bringing up this topic, that band is The Vaccines, and this review is indeed about that band's debut LP "What Did You Expect From The Vaccines". Due to various 'hip' sources shouting loudly about this supposedly new 'best kept secret' of London's (notice the paradoxical nature of this), I must admit that what I did Expect From The Vaccines was nothing short of Beatles reborn, and I am now sad, yet not overly surprised, to report that this is hardly what's on offer.

If you managed to dodge the torrents of bullshit being talked about this band, know that they are essentially blowing up due to introducing simplistic, bright and up-tempo garage-elements alá The Ramones, to a very contemporary and cool kind of brit-rock alá Chapel Club and Glasvegas. So this they do for about half the songs on this LP, which does admittedly result in a couple of recognizable songs in openers "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)" and "If You Wanna". As soon as the need for variety starts pressing however, The Vaccines' ventures into slower tempos reveal their weaknesses, as a minimalist approach to compositions basically makes them sound like dumbed down versions of Brit-rock bands that have come before.

Now don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean that they're absolutely awful. Actually, I think songs like "Blow It Up", and "Post Break-Up Sex" - both of them slower offerings - are among the most memorable songs on the record. I just can't quite get around the fact that these slower songs sound overly simplistic, compared to recent offerings from the likes of Chapel Club and White Lies, and yet for some reason, these bands haven't seen anywhere near the same attention as The Vaccines have? Similarly, if it's the bright, up-beat stuff that cool kids want these days, shouldn't we all rather hype a band like We Were Promised Jetpacks?

Okay, so maybe it's unfair to ask all these questions in a review of a debuting band. Surely, it's not their fault that everyone is lining up to hail them as this week's next big thing in brit-rock.. But then on the other hand, they are certainly reaping the benefits of it elsewhere. And that's just flat out lame if you ask me, because while "What Did You Expect From The Vaccines" is a good, chill record, it is easily the simplest and least interesting in a tidal wave of indie- and brit-rock releases hitting the market. Hence, I would expect this band to make like Glasvegas, blowing up violently, and then fading totally from view a few months later.

7

Download: Post Break-Up Sex, If You Wanna, Blow It Up,
For The Fans Of: Glasvegas, Chapel Club, the idea that The Smiths would've sounded any better if they had been more like The Ramones
Listen: soundcloud.com/the-vaccines

Release Date 14.03.2011
Columbia Records

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