The overarching joke throughout the Vaselines’ career has been their lack of timeliness. Formed in Glasgow, Scotland by Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee in 1986, the Vaselines put out a pair of EPs and a full-length before breaking up in 1989. But Kurt Cobain counted himself a big fan. The Vaselines reunited to open for Nirvana in 1990, and Nirvana repaid them by covering several Vaselines songs.
The notoriety was nice, but the Vaselines never really cashed in. For a band as shambolic and tongue-in-cheek as them, though, you wouldn’t expect them to. Kelly and McKee only reunite when they want to; their second album came out nearly two decades after their first. The Vaselines are on somewhat of a roll as of late, with album number three out this year. For V For Vaselines, they took inspiration from the Ramones and the Stooges. “I hadn’t listened to them for ages, and every song was amazing,” Kelly told Pitchfork. “I just thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to write really short, instant pop songs like that again?'” Of course, the Vaselines have always had a penchant for short, instant pop songs, mixing catchy melodies with dark wit and plenty of distortion. “One Lost Year” doesn’t mess with a proven formula, but then again, the Vaselines never had anything to prove.
