THE VACCINES
PICK-UP FULL OF PINK CARNATIONS
AWAL
★★★☆
Titled after a misremembered lyric from American Pie, the indie staples’ sixth LP was written while Justin Young was living in L.A., reflecting on a break-up. The few personal ruminations get in the way of his typically zesty skittish escapism. Lunar Eclipse and Another Nightmare are classic Vaccines bops, while Sunkissed is purer pop, seemingly influenced by Young’s sideline writing for others. Still sounding fired up, yet also remaining not quite able to convey life’s bigger emotions, it’s mostly business as usual.