Pick-Up Full Of Carnations. The Vaccines

The Vaccines can call itself a veteran of WoNoBlog in 2023. The band's first album found its way to the magazine of old, all on the basis of that overwhelming single 'Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)'. Come 2024 and the band's new album is released and it is a tremendously upbeat one. Energy jumps out of every single bite edged on the little slice of my hard disk dedicated to the album, making my speakers come alive totally.

Pick-Up Full Of Carnations is The Vaccines sixth album and according to Justin Young somewhere between fun and happiness. The fun part in the songs comes across in abundance. The lyrics tell us all about the (lack of) happiness. Stuff that come with being grown up and all that comes with (reaching) that state.

What Pick-Up Full Of Carnations shows is how "making me feel bad" can be caught in a surge of energy and melody. If anything that is what The Vaccines presents the world with. That energy of 'Wreckin' Bar' is all over the new album. I certainly have had my moments with The Vaccines in the past decade but never before like this. This is a record I just want to play again and again. That is a major difference from every once in a while.

Together with producer Andrew Wells the band managed to re-invent itself as as pop-rock band with enough overtones from Britpop and new wave to sound extremely relevant. Before recording the album lead-guitarist Freddy Cowan left the band and was replaced by touring-guitarist Timothy Lanham. This felt like a fresh start as well. A bio text, is a bio text, but from the outside it certainly comes across as such. The previous record 'Back In Love City' was certainly nice but not special. Pick-Up Full Of Carnations is.

Prom photo: Wrenne Evans

I'm not going to pick out a song as an example. (You can find a few singles on the blog, that already have been reviewed last year and tells you all.) I would probably start on each song, as they all have something special. Justin Young said that at some point, the songs were recorded already in September 2022 and in January 2023, one of them was his absolute favourite. And I can totally related to this feeling, with perhaps one single exception. The rest all has that factor that makes a song stand out.

Do you need to know more? I simply do not think so.The second great album of 2024 has announced itself.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Pick-Up Dull Of Carnations here:

https://thevaccinesuk.bandcamp.com/album/pick-up-full-of-pink-carnations