aaamusic | On 11, Apr 2011

I must confess my last memories of Younger Brother date back to 2003, when the band – that back in the days was still an electronic duo – released their first album A Flock of Bleeps. However, right from the first listening of Vaccine, their third studio album, I was quite surprised that, despite sounding nothing like the Younger Brother I used to know, it immediately felt familiar.

The opening track ‘Crystalline’ makes a great intro to what to expect from this album. ‘Shine’ is the real masterpiece, with sidereal synthesisers and one of the trippiest tempos I’ve heard in a while. The tribal drumbeats and languid swirls of ‘Pound a Rhythm’ make of this track a post-tropical anthem, while ‘Spinning into Place’, with its open atmospheres and soaring echoes from faraway places is a true psy-ambient earcandy. ‘SYS 700’ is one of the darkest tracks of the whole album with its asphyxiating bassline while ‘Tetris’ closes Vaccine in a glorious way, opening the possibilities of the infinite by depicting a post-apocalyptic scenario of bits and beats.

Vaccine is one of those albums to listen to while driving in the sun – think of an imaginary coast-to-coast from one hemisphere of your brain to the other with no stop to at the gas pump. You won’t need it, the tracks will give you all the energy you need to go through your metaphysical journey.

Despite the band classifying themselves as ‘psychedelic downtempo’ (they’re signed to Twisted Records, one of the godfathers of electronic/psychedelic music. And Simon Posford, one of the members of Younger Brother, is none other than one of half of the psy-trance duo Shpongle, that has made me dance so much in my days as urban hippie!) the perfect mix of catchy beats, awesomely crafted electronic melodies and Thom York-esque vocals makes of Vaccine a great electro-pop album, in the most beautiful sense of the term, as in accessible and enjoyable.

To me, listening to Vaccine has been like catching up with an old friend you haven’t seen in a while. He has changed (because we all do), he’s more mature. Still, he has managed to stay the same.

Author: Laura Lotti