Back in Love City

The English indie rockers fifth long-player, Back in Love City, sees the Vaccines looking for connections in an emotionally disconnected world and injecting an overflowing syringe of glitzy West Coast pop sheen into their melodic punk core. Recorded in El Paso with Swedish/American producer Daniel Ledinsky (Tove Lo, TV on the Radio, Rihanna), the 13-track set has all of the hallmarks of a Vaccines production, with plenty of snappy, surf-tinged festival pleasers with simple yet effective Ramones-style melodies. Commencing with the strident, electro-pop-tinged title track, the band heats up early with a pair of top-notch sugary stadium shakers (Alone Star and Headphones Baby) that set the tone for whats to come. Even at their most reductive, the Vaccines have always maintained an unwavering current of electricity, and they apply that voltaic sleight of hand liberally, especially on the relentless Wanderlust and ebullient Jump Off the Top. The puffy, Gary Glitter-aping Savage doesnt fare as well, nor does the near-constant influx of motormouth verses that yield fist-pumping choruses. The surprisingly sincere love letter to America, Heart Land, is a bit of an outlier, as is the cascading closer Pink Water Pistols, but for the most part, the band plays things relatively safe. Even so, the Vaccines are adept enough architects of early aughts U.K. guitar rock (Kaizer Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand, etc.) to know how to craft an earworm, and the reliable Back in Love City is filthy with hooks, even if youve heard them a million times before. ~ James Christopher Monger

通算5枚目となる新作は、リアーナやTVオン・ザ・レディオらを手掛けたダニエル・レディンスキーがプロデュースを担当し、テキサスのソニック・ランチで録音されたもの。ガレージ・ロックに傾倒していた前作に対し、今回はUKのギター・バンドとしてのプライドを保ちつつ、シンセを多用し、どことなく80s風のサウンドなのが興味深い。US西海岸のポップ・パンク勢にも通じる新機軸を打ち出した作品だ。
bounce (C)赤瀧洋二