Net Music Review

What Did You Expect From The Vaccines by The Vaccines

The Vaccines have almost gone through a careers worth of hyperbole and criticism even before they released their first album! Formed in London this four piece were immediately hyped up as the next big thing, the next answer to The Strokes with their first singles "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra) and "Post Break Up Sex". However, before their album had even been released a backlash started, focusing on the background of various members, pretty harsh even by today's standards. But, if you can look past all of that, then what you are left with is a confident, self assured debut with its fair share of great tracks.

"What Did You Expect…" kicks off at break neck speed with "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra) with its pounding drums and Jesus & Mary Chain esque guitar and reverb laced vocals. It's a frenetic opening and clocking in at only 84 seconds it's a short, sharp jolt hat makes you sit up and listen. Hot on its heels is "If You Wanna", another up tempo blast of indie guitar pop with a catchy chorus, it's a track despite the obvious Strokes influence that wouldn't have been out of place in the mid-nineties heyday of Britpop, the guitar solo even manages to sound as if its been lifted from a Strokes record. "A Lack Of Understanding" follows straight on, the reverb is again evident from the off giving the track a spacious feel similar to that of Glasvegas only not quite so morbid, there is even a hint of The Editors in there too with Justin Young's almost monotone delivery. Its certainly one of the highlights of the album and brings a welcome respite after the boisterousness of the opening two tracks. . "Blow It Up" carries on in a similar vein to its predecessor, the jangly, reverb ridden guitars providing the perfect backdrop Young's rousing vocals. After the opening few tracks you could be forgiven for thinking what was all the type about, or even why so much criticism.

"Wetsuit" starts off with a slow humming organ and Justin Young singing about getting old, coming from a band in their early to mid twenties this seems a little contrite, the song seems to lose its way and while listenable compared to what has gone before it seems more like filler. "Norgaard" is catchy enough with its spiky guitars and up the tempo, a song that will surely have thousands bouncing up and down in unison at this summers festivals, however some of the lyrics seem a little cheesy, for example "her minds made up, she don't wanna go steady, she's only 17 so she's probably not ready" borders on the creepier side of cheese! What follows next is undoubtedly the albums highlight, "Post Break Up Sex" an almost graphic and very literal description of the break up process. However, in spite of the odd clumsy lyric, the whole thing holds together exceptionally well, the guitar is almost hypnotic, aurally seducing the listener.

"Under Your Thumb" carries on in a similar vein as earlier tracks such as "Blow It Up" with the band almost paying homage to their influences such as The Strokes with its chugging guitars. "All In White" also shows similarities with what has gone before, this time reminiscent of the slower, Glasvegas influenced tracks, but with an undercurrent of simmering aggression. The track made me double take, the opening guitar riff bears an instant resmenblence to the Red Hot Chilli peppers and sounds slightly out of place, luckily any such similarity is only fleeting. "What Did You Expect…" closes with the sombre "Family Friend", another slower track that slowly builds and builds to a climax and is easily te longest thing here, the Vaccines even find room for the obligatory hidden track, a slow piano based echo laden little ditty.

While neither quite managing to live up to the initial hype or the barrage of criticism that followed prior to the release of this album it is still an accomplished, often exhilarating collection of songs that is well worth checking out. "What Did You Expect From The Vaccines" certainly proves the point, never judge a book by its cover.