The Vaccines
The Vaccines are an English indie rock band formed in London in 2010 by vocalist and guitarist Justin Hayward-Young, guitarist Freddie Cowan, bassist Árni Árnason and drummer Pete Robertson. After Robertson's departure in 2016, keyboardist Timothy Lanham and drummer Yoann Intonti were promoted from touring musicians to official band members. The band have been compared to the likes of The Ramones and The Jesus and Mary Chain, amongst others.
Their discography includes four studio albums, What Did You Expect from The Vaccines? (2011), Come of Age (2012), English Graffiti (2015) and Combat Sports (2018). Together, they've sold over 2 million records worldwide. Their debut album was the best selling album of 2011 in the UK.
Hayward-Young and Cowan originally formed the Summer of 2009. After months of perfecting the sound, they uploaded a demo to If You Wanna on YouTube. The song recieved immediate praise by people such as Zane Lowe, naming it the Hottest Record in the World in 2010. The debut tour in the UK included audience members such as Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand and Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons. In the same year, they released one of their most known songs caleld Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra) which also featured on their debut album, released in 2011.
After releasing their second LP in 2012, produced by Ethan Johns, and touring, the band took some time off in 2013. Cowan travelled to Senegal to play with Baaba Maal and The Very Best while Young performed with members of JEFF The Brotherhood and Mumford & Sons.
In 2014, the band started work on their third LP, produced by Dave Fridmann, which was released in 2015. The album brought them a tour across America with Mumford & Sons. Throughout this tour, Timothy Lanham (keyboards) was recruited and Yoann Intonti (drums) was added to the lineup as a result of Robertson's departure.
Over 2016 and 2017, the band recorded their fifth album, Combat Sports, which was released in 2018. In August of 2018, they toured with Imagine Dragons with Árnason absent for personal reasons. Ru Jarvis of The Maccabees replaced him on bass.
In 2019, it was announced that the band recorded a duet with Kylie Minogue for the trailer of Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon.
The Vaccines supported Muse during the Shepherds Bush Empire gig in 2013.