Review – The Vaccines – What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?

The Vaccines are due to make the splash later today at the top end of the album charts alongside Adele’s long reigning number one album “21” – it might not knock it off the top, but it is expected to go in as high as number 2. That is an impressive feat from a new band, who, although have a massive buzz around them, as the next big indie band labelled as “the saviours of guitar music” (not that guitar music even needed saving!), have not had massive singles chart success as of yet.

To go in near the top end of the chart, is therefore pretty impressive. But is it any good? That is the main question. After having a first listen today, I must admit, I am somewhat on the fence on this album. It has brilliant moments, where you genuinely believe that they will be the next big breakout band, but then there are moments that are forgettable, and sound quite dirgy. It is a tough one to call for me.

Wreckin Bar (ra ra ra) is a real catchy opening salvo, which leads into latest single If You Wanna, which is excellent. A Lack Of Understanding subsequently followed and really grew on me as it went on. I thought I was onto a stormer at this point. So far, so good.

But Blow It Up and Wetsuit are then pretty forgettable for me. Norgaard is another catchy little track but is only short, acting as a prelude for Post Break Up Sex, their debut single. It is a good song, but does get a little repetitive by the end. Under Your Thumb was quite good too. Everything else though sort of left me cold in all honesty. I would not necessarily be inspired to give them another listen either, but I may well dip back in to hear the tracks I liked once again.

As a debut, it is satisfactory offering. It hints are pure indie rock brilliance, and that is a big compliment from someone like me who is not big on the genre. However, there are some boring moments, with tracks that don’t leave a lasting impression. How they fare will be dependent on how well the indie crowd take to this album, and whether the good songs will ultimately outweigh the poor.

They could well be ones for the future though. Watch this space, as they could be set to explode.

6.5/10