What Did You Expect from The Vaccines?

Good thing they came out when they did, because otherwise they'd be cancelled by RFK, Jr. Fucking asshole. This is a terrific album. 12 songs. 35 minutes. Doesn't get boring. I wonder if under your thumb is their response to the stones, under my thumb.

This felt like a pretty middle of the road forgettable catchy indie album from the 2010s. A dime a dozen for sure.

This was not a good album. Most of the songs were actively irritating to listen to. Post breakup sex is particularly obnoxious. There is so much bland indie music on the post-list, it makes me wonder how people who enjoy it got through the variety of interesting music on the main list.

Great garage rock album by The Vaccines. A lot of energy and attitude in direct songs. Reminds of the Jesus and Mary Chain (reverb) and Arctic Monkeys (debut album).

Elementary school rhymes for lyrics ruin the depth and plain vanilla melodies make it middling

Rock, Pop: Alternative Rock, Post Punk.

9/10 super catchy! really dig this specific wave of alt rock :)

Loved a couple of the singles when this came out, I probably should have listened to the whole album back then. Very cool surf/punk simplicity but with kind of ethereal shoegaze atmosphere at times. Norgaard and If You Wanna put it on a 4 and the rest of the album does enough to nudge it to a 5.

One of the best suggestions after the original list so far. Only knew 1 song, but great album!

I'd heard of the band but didn't know the music. Brilliant!

I have not heard of The Vaccines and was skeptical. This hit just right and I was surprised to really love it! Listened to it several times today.

Amazing surf-rock! I Remember the singles doing very good in the charts. The energy fits just right

That sounds like The Strokes. That sounds like Weezer. I’m absolutely down to clown with both of those bands. I knew nothing about The Vaccines. I need to get immunised!

I really enjoyed that one. Thanks for adding it.

I kept thinking that this sounds like an indie version of The Killers. And by "indie", I mean properly "indie". Not the "sells out huge worldwide stadium tours but sounds kind of indie" indie rock. For the record, I kinda like The Killers but The Vaccines feel a lot more down to earth. Very good album.

One's largely aged out of such urgent, high-energy rock (even indie rock) but can still easily appreciate the merits of the more windswept, soaring cuts (e.g., "A Lack of Understanding"). Beyond the obvs Franz F-Strokes-Arctic Monkeys lineage, V's remind one of Fontaines DC (and thus and IDLES, too, and maybe Protomartyr, too, recently heard from the user list). One's reassured such strong direct hook-forward music is being made by young people – and it seems an accurate reflection of what one remembers of being young (lots of yearning, lots of energy, lots of hope). Songs about post-break-up sex are particularly welcome. As for the hype, one missed it so can't say whether or not this record validates it or no; all one can say that this rocks crisply, credibly and (crucially) non-doofily, in the best sense of indie rock.

I don’t know what I expected; I was deep into my German techno/Scandi-stoner-rock odyssey when this came out and I’d heard of them but never heard them. But I quite like it. It’s short (as albums like this should be) and it has that kind of distant, echoey production that makes it feel slightly disconnected and detached, in that bleak and wintry way that all Christmas songs should sound.

Yeah, I remember the hype about that one in 2011. That was during the tail end of the retro-rock wave, and The Vaccines had just managed to make the cut at the eleventh hour. Good for them, I guess. I even bought a cheap secondhand copy of this debut many years after, when that trend was already in the rearview mirror. I did it because this album is excellent beyond any concerns about ephemeral hypes and passing music fads. The production values feel a bit "safe" sometimes, but the tracklist is filled to the brim with instantly catchy earworms, which is never as easy to write as one may think. And even if the whole thing is derivative to a degree (think Beach Boys meets Ramones meets The Strokes, which is already quite a circular stream of influences, lol), you can't deny the talent and effort that has been put into those songs. If you wrote a book about that retro-rock wave in the noughts and how it invaded the mainstream, *Is This It?* could be the first chapter, and *What Did You Expect from The Vaccines?* would be the last. Maybe indeed that's enough to consider it as "essential", somehow. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes: 5 + 3.5. Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ----- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 47 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 60 (including this one) Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 111 --- Hey, Émile. J'ai enfin trouvé le temps de répondre ! Regarde sous la review de *Young, Loud And Snotty* des Dead Boys !

Good enough. Giving it a 4 cos it’s been a long time since a half decent one.

Another unknown, solid selection.

It's like modern punk pop with a Ramones/Phil Specter vibe. Very Enjoyable.

One of the best uk indie rock albums at the time, albeit wasn’t much competition during this period. Listening back now it has aged well. Not quite a masterpiece but Worthy of my frequent rotation.

This is the kinda indie bullshit I am open to. It's been hit or miss on this list but this hit. My personal rating: 4/5 My rating relative to the list: 4/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

Irreverent and naughty pop punk

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Wreckin’ bar, If you wanna, Blow it up, Wetsuit, Family friend

Used to listen to this album all the time, however never allowed myself to fully appreciate it due to the link with the types of people who use sepia- Instagram filters and yes it's not doing anything amazing but enjoyed the music it was providing all over again.

This is a great energetic alt-punk record. Seems smartly written, with a nice assembly of catchy pieces. Enjoyed this quite a bit.

I enjoyed a good rockin time

Good indie rock sound. Never goes too hard but always has fun. Occasionally dips into the folky sound that was popular in the early 2010s, but does not feel of a piece with that genre as a whole.

So good Bordering 5 4

Best Song: Wetsuit. Really liked the drum rhythm here. Worst Song: Post Break-Up Sex. A really disappointing song, because it felt like they had found a nice little vocal melody and then decided to ride it into the ground. A good thing repeated enough times becomes a bad thing. Overall: Very okay. Wildly middle-of-the-road. I don't dislike it, it doesn't excite me. It feels like music that you hear in car or clothing commercials. It's fine.

Always had it in the indie landfills category. I think it inspired a lot of echoey indie pop bands. It was ok

More Indie Landfill. I remember when this came out everyone was hailing them to be the next "saviours of rock". They weren't. Posh lads with guitars make passable music, but I suppose they understood the hype and named the album suitably. It's not bad, and it has some catchy hooks, when you're listening to it, but it's all pretty forgettable in the end. Best Tracks: Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra); If You Wanna; Norgaard

some kind of pre-noel gallagher

Nothing much to say. It sounded like a common and standard album to me. They did their homework to become a roack band

This album has two very different faces. One is fast, energetic, and genuinely fun. The other is slower, more drawn out, and considerably less interesting. When The Vaccines keep the tempo high, this works extremely well. “Wreckin’ Bar,” “If You Wanna,” and “Nørgaard” are full of energy, strong melodies, and that simple singalong quality that good indie-rock needs. It’s not innovative, but at this point rock rarely is, and the band compensates with conviction and strong melodies. The problem is that too many songs slow things down, and once that happens the limitations start to show. Tracks like “Blow It Up” and “Wetsuit” drift into that polished early-2010s British indie sound that reminds me a bit too much of White Lies, a band I never fully connected with. Ironically, one of the slower songs, “A Lack of Understanding,” ended up becoming one of my favorites. Along with “Post Break-Up Sex,” makes it a very enjoyable indie-rock album when it’s moving

Indie rock, surf punk, garage pop. Ni fu ni fa.

Catchy, energetic, unchallenging, fun all the way through.

Känns som man hört detta förut utan att ha hört det förut. Fullt godkänd platta.

Vaccinated

very melacholy, but catchy hooks! 3.

3.5

A grandiose shouting style of indie rock, very of the time. Imagine Dragons sort of became the culmination of this style's direction, which unfortunately scuffs up a lot of this kind of thing for me in hindsight. It's a fun trip down memory lane, though.

Not my style, but solid nonetheless!

What DID I expect from The Vaccines? I guess I expected 35 minutes of catchy if not especially impressive early 2010s indie rock that straddles the line between that Vampire Weekend-esque special spark and trademark landfill indie. And this met my expectations. If You Wanna is a great tune, and Post Break-Up Sex is really well written. Other than that it’s generally a good time (except one pretty sus song about going on a date with a 17 year old) but slightly formulaic and forgettable.

I knew more of these tracks than I thought I would. If this album had come out earlier in my life I think it would have been a firm favourite.

I know of The Vaccines and know a few of their tracks, but never heard this album. I like "If You Wanna" although I'm not a big dan. "A Lack of Understanding" is better IMO. The rest was alright, but nothing amazing.

Great listen. It fits favorably with the time period

This was pretty good. Nothing memorable but nothing bad.

Very generic. Close my eyes and it could have been any of those bands. Fine though,.

Some catchy songs here, a solid 3.5

Real nice actually

Yawn

A perfect example of a “so that’s where that song is from” album. Rest was alright too.

Yeah, decent, if not spectacular

This has a SHITLOAD of plays on Spotify but I've never even heard of it. I've usually at least heard OF an artist at this point, but nope. Don't recognise the big single, either. Anyway, just kinda average indie rock. Bit retro leaning. Probably UK. 3/5.

Indie rock, surf punk, garage pop. Ni fu ni fa.

Not sure what I expected with this - something more on the punk end of the spectrum I guess. But I liked it OK. Well performed and decently smart lyrics but maybe a little musically unambitious.

This was fun, with a nice crisp pace and some solid hooks. Treads no new musical ground, but I enjoyed it. Fave Songs: A Lack of Understanding, Blow It Up, Family Friend, If You Wanna, Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)

Not a bad indie rock album. It’s pretty much right on the verge of pop and alternative. Some of the songs are really teenager in vibe but a few of them were alright for an early 10s album. The British rock style comes through which is usually a better alternative style than some later modern ameeican bands. 6.5/10

Brit pop that could potentially turn you into an Anti-vaxxer. boring, uninteresting, and completely forgettable.

Honestly, I think I expected a bit more. I remember liking one or two of their songs at the time and this is bouncy enough. But it got a bit repetitive after a few songs. And I don't like the voice, even though i couldn't tell you why.

Short and sweet - which was a blessing as that was all that I could tolerate. Indie shite doesn't speak to me. How the chuff are you expected to dance to this nonsense? Some of the Pixies bass line pricked up my interest. But that was about it I'm afraid.

What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? Not a lot, it's an exercise in how to sound entirely like a bunch of acts that came before you and not do much if anything to further the genre or stand out from the many trying it. That means it's generally listenable but super boring and derivative and gets a 2/5. I'll never listen to it again.

Nothing new brought to the party I'm afraid. The singer started to remind me of Chris Martin part of the way through. The sort of record they put on at the end of a college student party when all the alcohol has been drunk and people are thinking of going home.

Yeah that was basically exactly what I was expecting from The Vaccines. What if Interpol made car commercial music.

Nice enough

Catchy hooks? Absolutely. But they’re the kind that feel like they were assembled in a pop-punk IKEA kit—three chords, some gloss, and a manual titled “How to Sound Edgy Without Actually Being Edgy.” It’s all very safe, very polished, and very... expected. The kind of album that makes you nod along while wondering if your playlist accidentally looped. What Did You Expect from The Vaccines? Well, at least a bit more than an album that feels like 'punk rock with a helmet on'.

Tiptoes between a 2 and 3 for me. The instrumentals are great, invoking early-aughts Interpol with a touch of gazey reverb and delay that makes for some great atmospheric tracks, but the vocals/lyrics feel so flat and obsessed with high-school level drama. Found myself getting worn out by the end as there's not many dynamic elements in the songwriting to make things sound varied and interesting.

I wasn't very impressed with their style. I suppose they have a solid fanbase, but I don't think the vocalist is as good as the other musicians. Sorry.

Like a time capsule to the late noughties. The music was tedious mediocrity, but boy did they wear Top Man well and have almost too perfect scruffy hair. A happier time, maybe, but the music was crap, made only to sound risible E4 yoof sitcoms and reality shows.