Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
The Vaccines, Sony Music 2018.
The Vaccines are a British band that topped the UK charts with their 2011 debut album What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
2012 saw the release of the equally successful, Come of Age, which charted at #1 in the UK and in 2015 English Graffiti reached number two.
Combined they have sold over 1 million records worldwide.
This album is the first of theirs that I’ve heard and I like what I’m hearing.
Combat Sports is their fourth release and it’s almost certain to emulate the success of their earlier albums.
The Vaccines play an up-tempo mixture of power-pop and good old fashioned rock and roll. Their sound has a vintage feel that comes across as being rather unique in today’s techno age.
There’s no techno wizardry, if synths are there they don’t dominate the mix.
The album’s like a blast from the past.
Tracks like Out On The Street start with a frantically thrashed guitar reminiscent of the early eighties while Nightclub has a great meaty bass and drum track as well as distorted guitar and syncopated rhythm that make it a standout on an album of universally good tracks.
It’s no wonder that The Vaccines have had 15 A-listed singles on BBC’s Radio 1 and won a BRIT Award for Best Live Act.
You could take virtually any track from the disc and release it as a single with success.
The record gives all the right messages about a band that is confident and united.
Their BRIT Award tells us that they are a strong live act and the freshness of the album suggests that a fair bit of it may well have been recorded live in the studio.
If you’re into some good high energy pop/rock, then I suggest you give this album a listen.
