Ah The Vaccines...I've been meaning to get to them for awhile, but I haven't wanted to jinx it.
See, everyone is in love with them, but The Vaccines are playing hard to get.
It all started with a mysterious demo this past summer. That's all it took. Once that demo came into our lives we fell in love. They tried like superheroes to keep their identity a secret--even the iPod playlists had the band name removed--but since indie music is largely a circle jerk, that plan quickly failed. Still, their hard-to-get game worked. We stalked them on facebook. We looked at their blog. We tried to find more. But the Vaccines just couldn't be pinned down. "We'll put out a single" they'd say vaguely, "Soon. We really want to baby--we're just so busy". And we'd sit home, waiting for a message from them. Oh we'd listen to other new bands, but The Vaccines always in the back of our minds. And our self esteem wavered. They were going to call soon, right? They said they would. They like us... Right?
Then last month they finally gave us some commitment in the form of two songs. Two songs that sold out during pre-sales. Based on the strength of a demo alone. Their game was working alright. But were they really mysterious? Or were they just asses who knew what they were doing?
Didn't matter. People were buying their music. People were buying tickets. There was a mini media-frenzy hyping them as the next big thing. They got into the lineup for Austin's SXSW this March. And they hadn't even put out an album yet.
So why are we falling for this? Was all that secrecy really just about testing the waters? Maybe at first, but with all the early buzz those worries should have been laid to rest. Yet the once-suggested 2010 album release has since been pushed back to some unnamed time in 2011. It might be a classic case of nervous perfectionism, but one has to wonder if they're just holding out for maximum impact. If so, the Vaccines risk our losing interest. In an age of instant gratification and information overload, when the next anything anywhere in the world is just a click away, it's hard to respond to a slow striptease. There are a dozen bands on Tumblr recording albums on iPhones who will take their place in a second if they're not careful. Worse still, what if everyone waits and the album isn't good? Then they might as well have dropped it months ago, while the "growing pains" excuse was still feasible.
After all this, it had better be something. That much is sure. But if this debut album lives up to even half the hype, there is the potential that we and The Vaccines could have a future together. And once there's finally a successful album between us they'll never want to leave, we just know it.
Demo:
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