Come of Age

This sophomore release is a brave and stunning progression that now solidifies the statement that this group can grow past 2011 without going stale.

Overall, The Vaccines have released a great album in the form of The Vaccines Come Of Age.

Come Of Age breezes through their awkward teenage phase with ease.

A record fizzing with ideas, tight melodies and loveable sass.

They've honed their ability to be urgent and primitive, to write songs that make boys and girls want to snog each other, and added nuance and depth. Everything feels bold, fast and confident.

Here, Young gives 25-and-bored clichés his own hapless-wanna-be spin... and throughout he's far too hopped up on Strokes-crisp tunes and surf-y guitar snap to come off half as blasé as he wants us to think he is.

The important fact is, Come of Age leaves you intrigued by that prospect while keeping you satisfied in the moment.

Come Of Age exceeds the expectations granted by its title and instead shows that the group are already wise beyond their years.

The Ethan Johns-produced follow-up sees their punky, Spectorish pop continue to evolve.[Oct 2012, p.87]

The result is a quarter-life crisis set to music, one you won't mind experiencing over and over again.

Thank f*** that they have delivered what we have come to expect from The Vaccines.

The record is more balanced, but that youthful spark is harder to find.

It offers a brief, indulgent and semi-trite mental vacation, which isn't so uncommon for second efforts and nice in its own way.

The Vaccines have crafted a perfectly acceptable sophomore record that neither helps nor harms them, which is probably exactly what they wanted.

It's good in places, sporadically very good, but is no significant step up from their debut. [Oct 2012, p.113]

There's an undercurrent of sentimentalism running through Come of Age....But originality is hard to come by.

[Come of Age] starts off promisingly enough, the infectious No Hope recalling the Libertines jangle of If You Wanna... But from then on there is precious little to set them apart from the retro-indie pack.

Unfortunately, just like The Vaccines debut, there is very little to really make you stand up and take notice.

Come of Age isn't a bad album, but nor is it the swaggering bid for world domination it's made out to be: it's too confused and incoherent. But if it isn't going to propel them skywards, there's enough decent songs on it to keep the Vaccines ticking over in their current position.

There's nothing wrong with seeking to accomplish the same things your heroes did, but when a band tries only to imitate a few aspects–in this case, detached singing, jangly guitar interplay, and lyrics about teen angst–without offering many of the other aspects that made that band great–like clever storytelling and interesting perspectives--it's always going to fall short. Which Come Of Age does.

[Come of Age] is even more of a dystopian nightmare than Kid A or an El-P record: The Vaccines draw us into a universe that revolves entirely around Young, and if he's got nothing to say, his only possible conclusion is that nobody does.