The Vaccines set to take Turner Hall stage tonight

I have no idea why, but in the last few years some of England’s best and/or most successful acts have been comprised of kids barely in their twenties. Acts like The Libertines, The XX and Arctic Monkeys all seemed to blow up overnight, receiving a massive amount of critical praise and approval.The newest band to continue in this trend are The Vaccines, whose melodic guitar-driven post punk revivalism has won over a good portion of the UK music press since their arrival in 2010, with their debut album What Did You Expect from The Vaccines? receiving favorable reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. Their latest full-length, Come of Age, was released last September, and the band will be appearing at Turner Hall Ballroom tonight as part of their first-ever North American headlining tour.

The music of The Vaccines is inherently indebted to that of the past, blending the classic pop songwriting of the ’50s and ’60s with the energy of ’70s punk. Yes, this sort of thing was happening ten years ago with a bunch of bands that had “the” in front of their names, but if anything, The Vaccines are reminiscent of only the more memorable groups of that era (I’d take them over the Vines or Franz Ferdinand with no hesitation).

Come of Age’s opening track “No Hope” recalls early Strokes with its angular guitar leads and simple-yet-solid rhythmic foundation. The frantic and staticky guitars of “Bad Mood” harken back to What Did You Expect in a hyper little blast of Libertines-esque pop. “Ghost Town,” with its minor key and reverb-soaked vocal harmonies could just as well be an Arctic Monkeys tune, although Vaccines singer Justin Young sounds much more like Doves frontman Jimi Goodwin than the Monkeys’ Alex Turner.

Hopefully the band’s Milwaukee debut will please fans of both the first and second albums. Based off of some of the live footage that I’ve seen, it should be a good time. After all, what would you expect?

The Vaccines will be appearing at Turner Hall Ballroom tonight. Tickets are still available and can be purchased here. Follow Sahan on Twitter and Instagram.