The flu season is upon us, and for a prudent individual that means plenty of hand washing, warm clothing and inoculation. Or, you could also remedy the cold weather and the leering risk of infection with a night out on the town with The Vaccines.
Following the release of their latest album, Come of Age, The Vaccines are about to tour Europe to promote their new tunes.
Come of Age comes with great expectations following the success of the indie rock band’s debut album What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?, which came out in March of last year, clinching the number 4 spot in the UK Album chart. Singles like ‘If You Wanna’ helped propel the band straight onto the pop charts with their catchy choruses and rock guitar pop.
“When we started, it was just a bit of fun,” the band’s frontman and lead guitarist, Justin Young, told the Guardian. “We were all a bit depressed. But a mate had a studio and we had a deal that we could go in and use it for free. I thought we were gonna stare at our feet and make ten minutes of noise. That was the plan. We did ‘If You Wanna’ and I sang the chorus as a joke, because it was cheesy, but everyone was: ‘That was fucking cool.’ That’s when we thought: ‘Why not be a pop band?’ I remember thinking: ‘Enough people are gonna like this that we’re gonna be able to headline the Barfly. This is a fucking great pop song.’”
Not only that, but The Vaccines have been selected for ten different nominations in the past year, of which they won three – namely ‘Best Emerging Talent’ (Quintessentially Awards), ‘Best New Band’ (NME Awards) and ‘New Music Award’ (XFM).
Not too bad when you consider that the band made their live debut in October 2010 at a small venue tucked away in East London. One year later, What Did You Expect from the Vaccines? went platinum and they sold out the legendary 5,000-capacity Brixton Academy in London.
“I had always looked down my nose at bands I’d seen accelerate too quickly,” Young told the Guardian when referring to the band’s ascent. “I always said: ‘Oh, I’m never gonna build my house on sand.’ But it was absolutely impossible to stop.”
The band is another example of the influence YouTube is having on the music scene, which has seen previously unknown talents make an instant impact by just uploading their videos onto the internet.
“At the time we were trying to stay in control of it,” bassist Arni Hjörvar said in the same interview. “And I think we felt we were in control. But it feels very different now to how it did then.”
“For someone who’s insecure, it’s quite an uncomfortable prospect, the idea that people who have never met you and never will are talking about you, not just as a musician, but as a human being,” Young added. “I think we were all – me in particular – quite uncomfortable, and we were just doing everything we could to slam on the brakes.”
The Vaccines have drawn strong parallels to the sounds of The Ramones and The Strokes, but have said that they are strongly influenced by music ranging from 1950s rock ‘n’ roll to American hardcore from the 1980s. And despite only having emerged onto the music scene in 2011, the band have built up an impressive portfolio of opening acts for heavyweight bands such as The Stone Roses, Arctic Monkeys, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Arcade Fire.
It’s therefore no surprise that for their next album, The Vaccines have teamed up with celebrated British producer Ethan Johns (the recent winner of the 2012 Brit Award for Best British Producer), who has previously worked with the likes of Tom Jones and Kings of Leon.
So if the weather’s giving you the blues, or the season’s circulating sickness is making you feel grungy, why not cure yourself of such ailments by heading down to Pumpehuset next Wednesday and inoculating yourself with a serious dose of guitar rock pop.
The Vaccines
Pumpehuset, Studiestræde 52, Cph V
Wed 24th Oct 20:00
Tickets 200kr; 3393 1960;
www.pumpehuset.dk
