Combat Sports in Bloomington, MN

The Vaccines
got trashy on
English Graffiti
, the 2015 album that found the British band finally not putting too much stock into tradition. Such irreverence was fun while it lasted.
didn't wear well on the road and the group was still shedding members, resulting in a new rhythm section anchoring 2018's
Combat Sports
along with touring keyboardist
Timothy Lanham
. Here, guitarists
Justin Young
and
Freddie Cowan
steer
the Vaccines
back toward seriousness without entirely losing the flashy flair that distinguished
.
is best when it trades upon such retro obsessions as new wave and disco -- in particular, "Your Love Is My Favourite Band" feels like an AOR artifact from the days prior to MTV -- and it's less successful when it returns to the neo-rock obsessions that have been the group's stock in trade since their inception. Since the group yo-yos between these two aesthetics, the record is a little shaky, but it's to the band's benefit that they retain a desire to not be so serious. At those moments,
deliver some rock & roll spark. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine