This is a Random Album Generator.
One album a day.
From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

What Did You Expect from The Vaccines?

The Vaccines

2011

What Did You Expect from The Vaccines?

Album Summary

What Did You Expect from the Vaccines? is the debut studio album by English indie rock band the Vaccines. It was released on CD and digital download in the US, and on CD and LP in Europe and the UK, on 11 March 2011 by Columbia Records, entering the UK Albums Chart at #4, going on to become the biggest-selling debut by a band in 2011. Two singles preceded the release of the album which attained generally positive reviews and gold status by May of the same year. In 2021, the Vaccines released a ten year anniversary edition of the album on pink vinyl limited to 2500 copies. Lead singer and songwriter Justin Young cites I, Jonathan by Jonathan Richman, Milo Goes to College by Descendents and "California Girls" by The Beach Boys as his major inspirations during the writing of this album] In a conversation with music site Atwood Magazine, Young said, "I remember we were petrified of not being able to capture the energy and we worked with (our producer) Dan Grech, who's an amazing producer and mix engineer but hadn't made any particularly energetic or aggressive sounding records, so we were constantly, as a team – Dan included – we were constantly aware of the fact that we might fall short. So we were always going the extra mile".

Wikipedia

Rating

3.27

Votes

131

Genres

Submitter

View

Reviews

Like a review? Give it a thumb up to help us display relevant reviews!
Sort by: Top Date
May 05 2025
4

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.

👍
May 06 2025
4

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).

👍
May 05 2025
5

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

👍
May 05 2025
5

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.

👍
May 07 2025
5

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

👍
May 08 2025
5

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

👍
May 16 2025
5

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.

👍
May 05 2025
4

So good Bordering 5 4

👍
May 05 2025
4

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.

👍
May 05 2025
4

I enjoyed a good rockin time

👍
May 05 2025
4

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

👍
May 06 2025
4

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.

👍
May 08 2025
4

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

👍
May 15 2025
4

Irreverent and naughty pop punk

👍
May 31 2025
4

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.

👍
Jun 08 2025
4

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.

👍
Jun 18 2025
4

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

👍
Jun 28 2025
4

Another unknown, solid selection.

👍
Jul 01 2025
4

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

👍
Sep 26 2025
4

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 !

👍
May 05 2025
3

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

👍
May 05 2025
3

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)

👍
May 06 2025
3

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.

👍
May 06 2025
3

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

👍
May 06 2025
3

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.

👍
May 07 2025
3

Yeah, decent, if not spectacular

👍
May 08 2025
3

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

👍
May 10 2025
3

Yawn

👍
May 10 2025
3

Real nice actually

👍
Jun 14 2025
3

Some catchy songs here, a solid 3.5

👍
Jul 03 2025
3

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

👍
Jul 15 2025
3

This was pretty good. Nothing memorable but nothing bad.

👍
Aug 18 2025
3

Great listen. It fits favorably with the time period

👍
Aug 19 2025
3

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.

👍
Aug 25 2025
3

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.

👍
Sep 01 2025
3

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.

👍
Sep 07 2025
3

Not my style, but solid nonetheless!

👍
Sep 26 2025
3

3.5

👍
May 05 2025
2

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.

👍
May 06 2025
2

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'.

👍
Jun 03 2025
2

Nice enough

👍
Jun 15 2025
2

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

👍
Jul 27 2025
2

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.

👍
Aug 27 2025
2

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.

👍
Sep 14 2025
2

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

👍
May 18 2025
1

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.

👍