THE VAPORS – Having A Good Time
THE VAPORS unleash a “Wasp In A Jar”… 4th album from New Wave veterans to be released on 2/28!
âWe look at the band with the philosophy of Viv Savage from Spinal Tap: âHave a good time all the timeâ,â laughs bassist Steve Smith of renowned New Wave veterans THE VAPORS about continuing the legacy of the band as well as the release of the fourth album in over four decades, WASP IN A JAR (release date: February 28, 2025 via Vapors Own Records). âGetting together and playing music is still really fun for us -bouncing ideas off each other and trying different things.â
The exuberant fun that the band had in the studio translates well to the finished album. The follow-up to 2020âs Together, the new album follows its three predecessors in conveying an individual feeling of its own, both lyrically and musically. âWe just felt that the title Wasp In A Jar captured the feel of the album – that sort of bottled up angst,â says guitarist Danny Fenton. âThere are some slower, more heartfelt moments on the album, but on the whole, it’s a fairly punk record. It wasn’t something we sat down and planned, but the band came from punk in the late â70s, so we just kind of leaned into that in the studio.â
Built around classic punk riffage with a chorus that opens up and toys with expectation, opening track âHit The Ground Runningâ retains the breakneck rhythms that fans know and love from their previous releases. With nary a moment to catch a breath, The Vapors follow it up with âThe Human Raceâ which Danny describes as a kind of âballad of The Vapors.â âCarry On,â a statement about the current climate (âWhen the government needs to know / Thatâs when the government needs to goâ), weaves around shimmering arpeggiated chords and Dave Fentonâs haunting vocal lines (âCarry on / As if nothing happened / Carry on / Like we did beforeâ) before evolving into an epic and soaring outro that begs for an audience singalong.Â
âThat’s like asking a parent who’s their favorite child,â replies Danny when asked his favorite songs on the album. âThey all have significance to us in their own different ways. âThe Human Raceâ is about the band, âLook Away Nowâ is about Dave dealing with his Parkinson’s Disease and âMiss You Girlâ is about children wanting to move out of the family home. That’s not to say that they are the three I’m most proud of⊠we are proud of them all.â
Wasp In A Jar
Tracklisting
Â
Hit The Ground Running
The Human Race
Forever and 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
Daveâs lyrics are as observational, poetic and open to interpretation as ever. If New Clear Days (1980) mixed commentary about the mundanities of late â70s/early â80s life combined with the paranoia stirred up by the state of the world as it was back then, Magnets (1981) brought a more personalized study and Together (2020) – a joyful celebration of the eventual reunion, then Wasp In A Jar is a combination of all three… all of which are glued together here by current personal and global commentaries, all performed by a band full of ability, confidence and positivity and very clearly enjoying themselves, 45 years on from their recorded debut. Â
Best known for their major worldwide 1980 hit âTurning Japanese,â The Vapors originally split in 1981 after two short years producing six singles, two albums, three major US tours, an Australian tour, and countless shows in the UK. After a 35-year hiatus, the band reformed for a series of four shows in Ireland and England in 2016 which were so well received that they continue to tour extensively, with over 160 gigs played since, with a comeback album, Together, in 2020 and several download singles released along the way.
With 2025 kicking off the next chapter for The Vapors, the band are looking at a full plate of activity. â2025 is shaping up into a very busy year for us,â says Danny. âWe have the album out on February 28th accompanied by a tour of UK grassroots venues in March. Then we have some UK shows with Big Country in April and May and then we are returning to the US for the Lost ’80s tour with A Flock of Seagulls, Big Country, Josie Cotton, Icicle Works, Belouis Some and many others.â Â
âAt this rate, we will be releasing our fifth album at some point next year,â laughs Steve. âMy hopes for 2025 is that everyone loves the album and we can continue performing our music all over the world. Really excited to get this new album out and see what it can do. We originally got back together for just four gigs, so to have written, recorded and released two albums is a real bonus.â
The Vapors is Dave Fenton (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Steve Smith (bass), Michael Bowes (drums), Danny Fenton (guitar). Wasp In A Jar will be released on February 28, 2025 via Vapors Own Records and was recorded and produced by Michael Giblin (The Split Squad) at Mechanicsburg, PA and mastered by Greg Reierson at Rare Form Mastering.
