Just This Once, It's Okay to Believe the Hype - #11 The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From the Vaccines?

Every now and then, a band seems to come along and take the nation by storm. The hype surrounding them is massive, everyone is talking about them and their YouTube videos can boast over a million views.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Vaccines.

Having only just resubscribed to NME after my move over here, I missed all of the media love that people threw at the band, just catching the occasional article on the website. Headlines such as "Liam Gallagher says the Vaccines are boring" only peaked my interest more to be honest, and I downloaded the album within about 20 minutes of it being released on iTunes.

In fairness, I can see why the band are an easy target for haters. Yes, it's not wholly original, they aren't the first indie band to make an album that sounds like this, but in a time where we have acts like Wild Beasts and Everything Everything will, frankly, wierd singers, it is refreshing for a band to 'go back to basics', as it were.

Starting off with a track that doesn't top 90 seconds does them no harm either. Wreckin' Ba (Ra Ra Ra) is the kind of song that should start all albums. It throws you into the action, and gives you a taste of what the band is capable of. And most importantly, it's good fun.

Followed up by If You Wanna, you could be mistaken for thinking that this would all be fast-paced, jangly guitars throughout, but the Vaccines make sure that they don't get comfy, and A Lack of Understanding shows another side to the band by track three.

Post Breakup Sex is the big hit on here, and arguably rightly so, but Norgaard is the kind of song that makes you want to be in an indie-rock band. Simple as it may be, it has never failed to raise a smile in me. Wetsuit may be a slower affair, but it's equally as good, and shows two sides of the band that fit together perfectly.

I've seen a lot of posts on Twitter about the Vaccines in the mould of 'I really don't want to like this band, but it's impossible not to.' Thankfully, I don't mind if I like them, and that's a good thing, as personally, I think they are great.

Interestingly, the band may have gone full circle now. Initially, I'm sure it was cool to like the Vaccines, where as now it seems to be 'the in thing' not to like them. That said, I'm almost certain that they will draw a huge crowd at Glastonbury, and I will definitely be right in the middle of it.