Having a major hit early in a band’s career can be a double-edged sword; sure, it provides an insane amount of exposure, but it can also overshadow other, equally interesting work. That’s precisely what happened to new wave maestros The Vapors, despite releasing two strong album during their original incarnation (1978-1981), they’ll always be remembered for their international smash ‘Turning Japanese’. Of course, that’s not a bad legacy, yet The Vapors were always about so much more as their latest album Wasp In A Jar proves. Featuring 14 tracks of hard, yet melodic, rock this album finds The Vapors taking everything that made them great whilst turning their sights towards the future.
If there was ever an aptly-titled opener then it’s undoubtedly ‘Hit The Ground Running’. With a lovely fuzzy guitar riff and a thunderous drum roll, The Vapors tumble from the speakers like rolling dice and they’re just as exciting and unpredictable. It’s spiky, punky and amphetamine-fuelled, yet The Vapors have lost none of their songwriting chutzpah and they make sure it is underpinned with a strong power pop sensibility. This is a song to which you can both pogo and sing-along; it’s a pit ready anthem and is sure to ignite venues wherever and whenever it’s unleashed. Proving ‘Hit The Ground Running’ was no fluke, ‘The Human Race’ continues in a similar vein, it’s a buoyant balloon that’s filled with helium and refuses to be tethered to the ground. It has a life-affirming quality that lifts the spirits, so much so that it should really be prescribed on the NHS.
Although rock music is a cult that revolves around youth, growing old is no disgrace and The Vapors have brought their experience to bear on this album and ‘Forever & Ever’ takes its foot of the accelerator to ensure that Wasp In A Jar ebbs and flows like an old school album. However, that’s just one example of the band’s maturity. Take ‘Carry On’ for example, The Vapors know just how long to hold the chorus back, waiting for to optimum moment to release it, building tension, we know it’s coming but not exactly when, meaning that when it is released it hits us like a caffeine buzz or a cold beer on a warm day. Yet The Vapors have retained a youthful element and you feel that if ‘Miss You Girl’ had been the follow up to ‘Turning Japanese’, the future could have been markedly different.
Whichever way you turn, Wasp In A Jar has plenty of twists and surprises up its sleeve. It’s an album that doesn’t stay in one place for log as the thoughtful ‘Can’t Stop Us Now’ sits next to the angular ‘The Words’ and the muscular ‘Look Away Now’ nestles besides the bombastic ‘Idiot Creature’, but in whatever guise the band appear they come armed with a catchy melody and a neat turn of phrase and that makes for an album that’ll throw up plenty of surprises on repeat spins and ensures Wasp In A Jar is an album with plenty of sting in its tail.
- Wasp In A Jar is released on 28th February 2025 (available here).
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Track List:
- Hit The Ground Running
- The Human Race
- Forever & Ever
- Miss You Girl
- Decompression
- Carry On
- Nonstop Radio
- Nothing Can Stop Us Now
- The Words
- Look Away Now
- Idiot Creature
- It Gets Better
- Proud
- Together Again
