Despite 2010 being a year in which the face of independent music continued to beautifully mutate, continuing to disregard genre boundaries, it’s curious that the year’s runaway record was undoubtedly Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs – a guitar rock record made by a band who have now gone as massive and stratospheric as Neil Armstrong’s Range Rover. It seems that there’s a taste growing for great guitar bands – especially in the UK. Not to say that there’s anything wrong with the musical mutations going on across the world, but every reaction does of course create an equal and opposite reaction. We’re all getting a bit pissed off waiting for the next Strokes record and, with Arctic Monkeys allegedly abandoning their “indie” roots, Britain (and maybe the rest of the world) is thirsting for some new skinny kids with guitars.
The biggest contenders this year are undoubtedly The Vaccines. They’ve been together less than a year but have generated massive speculation and excitement. They have a Strokes-y air about them and are self-confessed worshippers of Is This It? The mistake has been made too many times of calling a band “the new Strokes” or “the new Libertines”, so I won’t say it…
After surfacing online with a few fuzzy demos, the British music press went into overload. The band were initially shrouded in mystery but we know know their identities:
- Justin Young – vocalist/rhythm guitarist. Formerly performed twee indie folk under stage name “Jay Jay Pistolet”
- Freddie Cowan (lead guitar)
- Árni Hjörvar (bass)
- Pete Robertson (drums)
The Vaccines are unashamedly about that instant, euphoric teenage rush that being in a guitar band is all about. They’re no laconic, pseudo-hippy Best Coast or a knock off of The Drums. Urgency and directness are the key words. They are ambitiously on a campaign to throw guitar music back into the UK charts. They’ve no pretension about themselves either. They “are a pop band and… want to be a pop band,” they’re self confessed ABBA fans, but don’t think that compromises their youthful, Messianic quality; they reek of The Ramones. There are quite a few other British guitar bands floating about right now, some with hilariously ill fated pretensions to glory, supplemented by a sub-Oasis, knuckle dragging pseudo-swagger. The Vaccines, however, exhibit a genuine honesty and innocent ambition. It’s so refreshing.
They placed third in the BBC’s “Sound of 2011″ Poll, which is a poison chalice if ever there was one. However, there are times when a band gives you a sense that they really could pull it off. It’s getting more difficult to do that in a world where the indie music press is becoming increasingly skeptical and distrustful. But to a lot of people in the UK right now, myself included, The Vaccines are one of those bands.
Their debut album is due in March, and single “Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)” – a minute and a half of breakneck indie rock – is out now. “Post Breakup Sex” is set for release on January 23 in the UK. Here’s the the video though:
They made the demo of the anthemic “If You Wanna” available as a free download recently, and here it is for your enjoyment as well.
Connect with The Vaccines // MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | web
The Vaccines // If You Wanna [mp3]
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