The Vaccines and Strokes

This week I have been listening to two new albums, one from either side of the pond as the Atlantic has come to be known. I am not a fan of this metaphor as when taken to its logical end we find that it is the Americans with the grand house (grand enough at any rate to call the Atlantic a pond) and us humble Brits living in some kindly allowed granny house at the bottom of the garden just beyond the aforementioned water feature.

The Vaccines: What did you Expect From The Vaccines: 6/10

Let us begin at home with the Vaccines. I have read extensively about an anti vaccination movement that is sweeping America due to a poor understanding of Science and celebrities worrying their pretty little heads about it and magazines being all too keen to print what ever nonsense these pretty little heads have to say about absolutely anything. We (the British) are somewhat to blame for this state of affairs as we let the farther of the movement a Dr (now struck off)Andrew Wakefield be born, live, work and publish on our shores (You know the MMR, fuck the science fruit loop). Well now, as way of apology the UK has produced not just 'a' vaccine but 'The Vaccines' who like their names sake take just a little bit of something (The Clash, The Ramones, California Pop Punk and New York Shoe Gazers) and inject it into something to produce bla de blar...(I have walked too far down this metaphorical garden path only to discover it leads no where.)

The Vaccines have been much lauded by the media and appeared highly placed on the BBC's sound of 2011 list. This however is no guarantee of success or quality I'm sure the Twang once appeared on this list. Were the Vaccines a Californian band then this album would be been a pop punk flash in the pan. Who knows maybe a few singles may have made it to our shores, as it is the Vaccines are British and therefore instead of a polished pop poop they have given the world an album that is slightly rough round the edges and in places sounds like it was recorded in a tin can garden shed circa 1979. With off mic comments that are still audible in the mix and amps over run with reverb that give the album a live urgency as opposed to the sterile sound of our Cowell/Fuller overlords.

On an aside note British bands have the best lyrics, I'm not offering it for debate just stating it as a matter of fact. There is nothing lyrically brilliant in the Vaccines album but there is some kind of unique sensibility, black humour and desperation that few mainstream acts outside of Britain commit to record. There isn't much to dislike about this album. It is nothing ground breaking and wares its influences on its sleeve but pop music performed by real musicians pisses all over that produced by pre pubescent boys and music moguls. Not that I would ever accuse the Vaccines of pissing on pre pubescent boys, but saying that I don't know them and London folk are a little odd.

The Stokes: Angles: 8/10

The Strokes are back with their fourth album. I bet no one predicted that happening after the solo successes Albert Hammond Jr and Julian Casablanca but happen it has and they have pulled out all the stops not to sound like The Strokes and in doing so have only managed to sound even more like The Strokes.

The opening track has a Reggie sound and a structure more complex than you average Strokes track but by track two, which is the lead single 'Under the Cover of Darkness we find our selves on familiar territory with classic sounding and signature garage production, clashing guitars that duel across the verses and call to mind the excellent Reptilla. Except something is different, very different. I'm not staining to here the lyrics, they are high in the mix and have more than a few notes that are sung with real confidence all of which done without the mask of the broken mic distortion that was hidden behind most notably on their first record. Your So Right is where The Strokes mould is truly broken with a song that has a sinister electronic base and layered vocals that give a new dynamic to the band that I would have never suspected that they had it in them.

I was sure that the Strokes were a band running out of steam but for me this album marks a definite transition from indie fashion darlings with little substance beyond a few pop tunes into a serious 'albums band' but will anyone still care by the time their next album is out? I hope so. Even with all these changes The Strokes remain a band that sound like no other band than The Strokes.