The Vaccines
English Graffiti
Reviewed by: Max Miller
You’ve probably heard the Vaccines without realizing it. The London-based group specializes in the kind of factory-line, jittery rock tunes that effortlessly disappear into the background of commercials for trucks, Levis and any other commodities still loosely affiliated with “rock ‘n’ roll” as self-branding (which has always been a larger part of “rock ‘n’ roll” as music or cultural movement than most would care to admit).
This kind of serviceable songwriting may have won bands like the Strokes acclaim a decade-and-a-half ago, but the Vaccines have two things going against them in the musical climate of 2015: 1) They simply don’t write songs as good as “Last Nite” or “Someday,” and even if they did, 2) the kind of folks who placed Julian Casablancas and co. on a pedestal back in ‘01 are beginning to recede to the cultural margins now, forced to concede that they’ve had success as little else than ur-nostalgists.
By the time of this year’s English Graffiti, the Vaccines sound nostalgic for not only circa-’78-’81 post-punk/new wave bands (who were themselves at least partially nostalgic for the simplified garage-punk of the ‘60s that the Vaccines have previously emulated) but for the wave of early-aughts groups like Interpol, Franz Ferdinand and the aforementioned Strokes, thus rendering the Vaccines’ mimicry about three musical generations deep and all the more murky for it.
While some cuts like opener “Handsome” or “20/20” harken back to the band’s back catalog enough to placate advertisers in need of a quick fix, many others adopt a mid-tempo, synth-driven approach that neither achieves the angular danceability of the Vaccines’ forebears nor the sheer hook-laden joy of fellow revivalists like Walk the Moon, whose “Shut Up and Dance” is, for all its unoriginality, at least somehow charming and inescapable. “Dream Lover” or “Give Me a Sign,” off Graffiti, are just plain faceless.
Intersperse a few goopy, aimless ballads like “(All Afternoon) In Love” and “Want You So Bad,” and you’ve got an album that somehow makes 31 minutes feel like several hours. The Vaccines have evolved from the band you forget after a 30-second TV spot to the band you forget after a four-minute song. I don’t think there will be a fourth generation of rock nostalgists ripping off this one.
Rating: No comment
