The Vaccines

From the moment Alex Kapranos, The Maccabees, Mumford and Sons, and White Lies all turned up to the band's first-ever London gig, a huge buzz has surrounded The Vaccines. Led by frontman Justin Young (formerly Jay Jay Pistolet) and guitarist Freddie Cowan (brother of The Horrors bassist Tom Cowan), The Vaccines, who formed in 2010 in West London, soon won heavy acclaim from the critics and, burdened with the tag "the new Strokes", were acclaimed as saviours of British guitar pop. Full of brash, youthful rock & roll, the fever intensified with the release of early singles “Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)” and “Post Break-Up Sex” and the band were nominated for the BBC Sound of 2011 poll, eventually finishing third. Heavily influenced by 1960s girl groups, 1950s rockabilly, C86, and Britpop, their debut album, 2011’s What Did You Expect from The Vaccines? shot to number 4 in the UK charts, cementing their reputation as one the most exciting young indie bands in Britain. They followed this up with Come of Age in 2012 which reached number 1. 2015’s English Graffiti and 2018’s Combat Sports returned them to the top 5 on the album chart, as did 2021’s Back in Love City. Their next album followed three years later; Pick-Up Full of Pink Carnations, which was notably the band's first LP without guitarist Freddie Cowan, who quit in March 2023.