Anyone who spends much time prowling the web looking for new bands to add to their listening repertoire has probably caught wind of the buzz surrounding London-based band the Vaccines. If you happen to be from the UK, or particularly handy with illegal file sharing, you may have already gotten your hands on a copy of their debut record "What Did You Expect From the Vaccines". For the rest of us, their May 31 release is hot off the Columbia Records presses, and certainly not short on up-beat, head-bopping rock n' roll.
What makes this record interesting is not necessarily ground-breaking or genius. The Vaccines, however, display an adept talent for taking a recycled or classic (depending on how you look at it) rock n' roll progression and adding a distinct flavor to it that is sharply their own. Each song seems like a microcosm of the record as a whole, a skill in arrangement that is not nearly as common as it should be among today's popular recording artists. The dynamic between loud and soft or restrained and thrashing is evident in nearly all of the songs on this record and used effectively to develop both the songs and the record.
"What Did You Expect" incorporates masterful build-ups with clever lyrics and melodies, while effectively using just enough repetition to hammer the hooks home. Tracks like Wreckin Bar (Ra Ra Ra), If You Wanna, Blow It Up, and Norgaard are surf-tinged punk rock sing-alongs made for the stage. These tunes are built to get drunk and sing along to. You can close your eyes and imagine yourself swallowed up by a sweaty booze-fueled audience, with your arm around your neighbor (who you may or may not know), screaming along and clapping your hands.
Valley songs such as A Lack of Understanding and Wetsuit utilize sustained pads to add depth to the quartet's music on slower and more restrained tunes. Despite this apparent restraint, the band never loses steam, using all sorts of tricks to keep the listener invigorated, such as interesting rhythms on Wetsuit that help to divert attention away from a heavy quarter-pulse.
One of the best tricks that the Vaccines employ on their debut is the effective use of dissonance and reverb, which rattles the listener in an uneasy manner, before exploding into their hooks. The dissonance makes the resolution far more satisfying, and therefore comes most effectively on the album closer, the lamenting and anthemic Family Friend, where the song builds continuously until it degenerates into dissonance and feedback, a fitting resolution to this record.
Overall, these cheeky lads from London have put together a pretty good indie record that certainly has the potential to grow on listeners. With songs built for live performance, this group will probably be a hot ticket here in the States, as their only upcoming gig in the New York area is at the Escape 2 New York festival on August 6th out on Long Island.
For more info on the band and their upcoming shows, check out their website here.
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