It’s a rare occasion when we get quality Brit-pop this far from the Isles themselves (maybe something to do with the balmy climate?), but whatever the cause, suffice to say that when a group like the Vaccines does show up in Bangkok, it’s cause for celebration.
For the uninitiated, the Vaccines are a West London quartet whose 2010 debut—What Did You Expect From the Vaccines?—secured it all the breakout star signifiers that previously heralded would-be rock ‘n roll saviors such as the Arctic Monkeys and the Strokes.
The British music press heaped the Vaccines with effusive praise, the major labels licked their chops and at least one song from What Did You Expect (“Wetsuit”) embedded itself several layers deep in pop music’s collective unconscious.
Making good on that early promise, the group hit the ground running. By the end of 2011 it had signed with Columbia, toured with the Arcade Fire and secured the effusive endorsement of NME.
These workaholic tendencies set the stage for the Vaccines’s sophomore album, Come of Age, which emerged late last summer.
The album is good. Really good. The kind of good where its high points soar without apparent effort and its reverb-laden guitars build surreptitiously to the point of cacophony.
The Vaccines, more than any other asset, possess an abundance of charm. Chief songwriter Justin Young nonchalantly makes epics of his mid-20s malaise. The band produces indie rock that leans towards pop without begging for attention, and pop that accommodates nuance without sounding ham-fisted.
For a city whose music calendar consists primarily of DJs and superstars on the far side of their prime, this show should be a rare treat.
Save the date: The Vaccines, the Rubens and the Yers @ Moonstar Studio (Lat Phrao Soi 80). January 12, 6PM. “Earlybird” tickets are available for THB1,400 and standard entry is available for THB2,000.
Deets, tickets and other goodies can be found here.
