In order to appreciate more than just the Lollapalooza headliners download What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? by British band The Vaccines. Before their stateside release The Vaccines had 6 – yes really 6 – singles: Post Break Up Sex, Blow It Up, If You Wanna, Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra), All In White and Norgaard. These 6 songs of renewed love and upbeat guitar clangs make up over half of the 11 song album; an album that has flamed a media frenzy since its debut single in November 2010.
They fuzzy, vibrant album has its moments of brightness – especially on sharp tracks like the amusing Norgaard “Her mind's made up; she don't wanna go steady” and the pleasantly wistful Lack of Understanding “should I shake your hand or should I give you a kiss?” Despite these exclamations of intriguing opinions and catchy melodies, the album is not fantastic. Frankly, The Vaccines appear to be the outcome of the music worlds wish for a redo of the gritty, timeless sound of The Strokes circa 2001 – a belief further supported by the original release date for the album, which coincided with The Strokes’ Angles. Even the album title itself is a pun on the overhype and great expectations given to this band whom, unlike The Strokes, didn’t stay out of the media and let the music speak for itself. Instead, The Vaccines became a well-known band through magazine covers and an overload of (pretty good) singles.
Regardless of the grandiose expectations and almost inevitable letdown (at least The Vaccines did not follow The Strokes in creating oversynthed disappointment) the band is still worth seeing – especially in the sun-flecked atmosphere of a festival.
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