UK pop band The Vamps are a group who I have been following since the summer of 2012, shortly after they emerged as a band, and I have been keeping up with their incredible journey ever since. From their first single Can We Dance, to arena tours and the release of their latest album Night and Day – Day Edition, The Vamps never fail to impress with their catchy music, incredible visuals and dedication to the profession.
Introducing The Vamps, they are a four piece band consisting of lead sing Brad Simpson, guitarist James McVey, bass player Connor Ball and Drummer Tristan Evans. Their story began back in 2011 when James McVey, wanting to start a band, found lead singer Brad’s video’s on Youtube and got in contact. Soon after, they found drummer Tristan and The Vamps was formed. Once the band was formed, they then began posting covers on Youtube in the summer of 2012 with their first cover being Vegas Girl by Connor Maynard which now has over 1.2 million views. This was the first cover of theirs I heard which I stumbled across while searching for Conor Maynard and I was hooked instantly. Over the summer, and the rest of 2012, they continued posting covers on Youtube, covering the likes of One Direction, Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars.
It was then in 2013 that they began searching for a Bass player and through mutual friends found Connor who officially joined the band in March. While still posting covers, with their Youtube platform gaining more and more attention, they had been working on their original music and began to tease some of their songs as they joined the likes of McFly on their Memory Lane Tour and Selena Gomez on the London leg of her Stars Dance Tour in the April and September of 2013 respectively. And in September, they released their debut single Can We Dance which charted at number 2 in the official UK charts.
2014 was big year for the band as they began to gain even more attention following the success of their debut single and they were branching out from their Youtube beginnings. The start of the year saw the release of 2 more singles Wild Heart and Last Night prior to the release of their debut album Meet the Vamps which dropped in April. As well as gaining massive success with the release of their debut album, they were moving on to bigger and better things, kicking off the year by playing the O2 in London as they supported Taylor Swift on the London leg of her RED tour in February and The Wanted on their Word of Mouth tour in March and April. They then ended the year with a bang by headlining their first official Meet the Vamps Tour, performing songs off their debut album. Since then they have gone from strength to strength, releasing two more albums Wake up (2015) and Night and Day – Night Edition (2017) which have included hit singles such as I Found A Girl, All Night and Middle of the Night, working with artists from Matoma to Sabrina Carpenter. And they have been busy travelling the world as they have embarked on several international world tours.
However, making sure not to leave us going too long without new music, yesterday (July 13th) saw the release of their fourth album Night and Day – Day Edition which follows the release of the music video for their latest single Just My Type earlier this week. In addition to Just My Type, the album also features the singles Personal, featuring American singer Maggie Lindemann, and Hair Too Long. Following on from their previous album Night and Day – Night Edition, the two part concept album can be seen as more grown up version of Meet The Vamps. Returning to an earlier sound, the album maintains an upbeat, pop-dance vibe with tracks such as Just My Type and Talk Later, which shows off the more mature lyrical and musical direction of this album. However, there is also an abundance of more slower and melodic tracks, reflecting the theme of relationships within this album, with the lyrics dealing with relationships in a reflective manner. This can be seen in tracks such as Hair Too Long and Pictures of Us. Tracks such as Forget What Your Father Says and Cheap Wine really see the perfect fusion of the old school Vamps sound (reminiscent of tracks such as Dangerous) with their newer vibe, and lyrically presents a cheekier more grown up side of the band. With hints of club inspired beats, the two tracks discuss difficulties within love and relationships.
My favourite songs off the album have to be Personal and Talk Later. Personal, With Maggie Lindemann, is a highly infectious and relatable track with Brad and Maggie’s vocals working perfectly together to tell a two-sided story of unrequited love. With a lot of emotion and a fantastic drumline, the song is almost impossible to get out of your head. Talk Later is a more dance inspired track with a seductive, mature lyric and vocal element undoubtedly coming through. Again, with incredibly catchy and effective drum and guitar lines, it is difficult not to have this stuck on loop inside you head.
A perfect summer album that will definitely not disappoint, go and give The Vamps’ latest album a listen and be sure to check out their earlier stuff as well! And if you are now dying to hear them live, which is an incredible experience, they will be back on tour next year having just announced their 2019 UK Four Corners Tour. And be sure to find them on social media @Thevampsband
Post By Stevie Carter
BUSK MUSIC 