Modern: Come of Age 6/10

Not exactly a "recent" album, it's been out for a few months now, but I just started listening to it.

I wasn't really into The Vaccines before getting this album - admittedly, I had only heard "Norgaard" and "Tiger Blood"; both catchy songs that I thought were pretty fun to listen to, and I'd heard some pretty great things about the band, but I never got around to fully listening to them.

Anyways, this isn't a bad album - the low rating is just for unoriginality and little variation.  They do have catchy music; there isn't a single song on the album I dislike.  It's just that most of them sound the same - same distortion, same rushed riffs, etc.  Sometimes the distortion is even a little too much or too non sequitur (e.g. Aftershave Ocean.  Good song overall, but some parts make me feel a little taken aback, and not in a good way). This isn't necessarily a bad thing as The Vaccines do pull off their genre of modern indie rock very well, but this could turn out bad if they show little progression into their next album (again, nothing to base this on; I'll start listening to What Did You Expect From the Vaccines? soon and be able to accurately compare/hear the full difference).  Again, not trying to put them down - I do enjoy this album. The whole album also takes a darker twist from the two songs of theirs I'd heard before, which is nice to hear.

I take album order seriously.  Opening with No Hope - eh. Not a very strong start, and definitely not one of the best songs on the album.  It's cute, but there's nothing too special about it.  I do like closing off Come of Age with Lonely World though: it's a slow song that has a pretty legitimately pretty melody - kind of makes you nostalgic, and leaves a good taste in your mouth when the whole thing is over.

Good to listen to for rainy days that are still really good days (not like, sad rainy days).

Gems of the album: Ghost Town (love the ominous but cute feeling of this song - I feel like I'm in an 80's horror mystery comedy B-movie while listening to it.  It just makes me smile.), I Wish I Was A Girl (I have a soft spot for those darker sounding songs - this one is pretty sexy.)

Artist Review on The Vaccines coming soon!