The Vaccines test ‘English Graffiti’ at Electric Brixton date

“Brixton on a Wednesday night,” smiles Justin Young onstage at Brixton Electric, sixteen songs deep into the evening. “Who’d have thought it, eh?” he questions, confidence and surprise wrestling on his tongue.

From the baiting introductory cry of “Brixton,” and the thundering romp of ‘Teenage Icon’ that surges forth, The Vaccines are flush with assurance. Hands aloft, pints airborne and every corner of the room bouncing, The Vaccines’ swagger is justified.

There’s urgency to The Vaccines tonight. The impatient stomp of ‘Bad Mood’ manages to find a new level of chaos within the crowd while the looming ‘Post Break-Up Sex’ sees the band wide-eyed and direct. “Let’s see what it sounds like with a South London accent,” Justin ventures before it begins; the answer is deafening. The exploding time capsule of ‘If You Wanna’ sees the room, which seems to have grown as the night’s gone on, unite with gleeful abandon and physical expression.

With the release of ‘English Graffiti’ inching closer it’s the new songs that really matter tonight; creating moments instead of a means to a sweaty end, each one feels vital.

From the tentative march of ‘Dream Lover’ to the circling wink of ‘20/20’, The Vaccines are pushing themselves to their sonic edge. The effortless melancholy of ‘I Want You So Bad’ is deceiving and insular before exploding in a glittering mess of wailing guitar and strobe lights, but it’s the weight of ‘Handsome’ that leaves the biggest impression. Welcomed with the excitable embrace of an old friend, its frantic drive is already a cause for celebration and as Freddie Cowan joins the front row for its fraught conclusion, it’s obvious it already belongs to the room.

Taking to the stage before a sea of spotlights and deafening roars, The Vaccines leave under the same circumstances. Voices exhausted and answers found it seems impossible that this is just the start, but scrawled on to the 1800-strong crowd is the phrase ‘English Graffiti’ and it means one thing; The Vaccines are back.