It’s a testament to the band’s career ambitions that they’ve just returned with their third album, English Graffiti. Looking back on the build-up to What Did You Expect from The Vaccines?, co-frontman Freddie Cowan has no lingering misgivings.
“I don’t think I was aware of it to the level it was going on,” he says. “In hindsight it was massively hyped. The speed at which we grew in the UK was insane. They’ve touted a couple of bands since, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone do it and ride that wave like we rode it. We were so lucky for that really.”
Cowan’s grateful attitude is somewhat surprising. See, while embracing such lofty praise might appear natural, the motives behind this acclaim warrant scepticism. It’s impossible to ignore the nostalgic-bent to a statement like ‘saviours of guitar music’, and in this respect, Cowan’s less compliant.
“Saviours of guitar music – what does that even mean?” he says. “Does guitar need to be saved in that way? I don’t think so. It seems like everyone wants it to be the ‘90s again – people who talk like that: ‘Go back to the good old days when people who played guitars made more money.’ I don’t want to go back to that. I love where pop music is at and I really understand why guitar has taken a back seat.”
The consequences of this realisation are stamped all over English Graffiti. Encompassing added diversity and dynamic scope, the synth-heavy album recalls everyone from TV On The Radio to Simple Minds and The Strokes. The band’s penchant for high-speed pop numbers is still in effect, but with help from producer Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, Sleater-Kinney), the CBGBs grime has made way for neo-Spector gloss.
“We didn’t really set ourselves any rules with it,” Cowan says. “We’re the ADD generation and we’re like the worst culprits of that, so we just followed what was of interest at the time. It’s dangerous to have too much of a mission. If you over-conceptualise before you walk the path, it’s not natural.
“We listened to a lot of pop radio making this record,” he continues. “But also someone would just come in and be like ‘Oh have you heard this song?’ Deerhoof put out their new album and there was a song called Big House Waltz, and we went ‘This is fucking really inspiring music’.”
One of the primary flaws in the nostalgia-drenched ‘bring back the guitars’ argument is that the guitar itself is simply a tool. With English Graffiti, Cowan and co. set out to demonstrate that it’s more important to communicate something forceful and exciting, regardless of your chosen tools.
“When Kanye West put out All Day, it was like ‘What the fuck?’” he says. “It sounds like someone did it in five minutes, but it sounds like that person was genius. It’s like ‘This is the rock’n’roll’. This is what people must’ve heard when they heard Link Wray – when jazz was big, this guy’s playing three chords through a busted amp, but it worked. The pop world is living on the edge and its dangerous and heavily referential and so fast-moving. I love that. It’s great just to experience that. So when it comes to bringing the guitars back, I have no interest in going back to that era. I still think there’s a place for guitar music, but I think it’s a place that requires a bit more thought.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
