The Vaccines, “Pick-Up Full of Pink Carnations.”

British rockers The Vaccines strike the right balance on their sixth album, Pick-Up Full of Pink Carnations, a record that effectively mixes their musical ingredients to create a dazzling melodic collection. While the band’s sound remains rooted in gauzy ’60s-inspired guitar rock, vocalist Justin Young and company are still masters at adding modern pop sheen and acerbic wit that brings these 10 songs to life. While the album lyrically delves into disillusionment and loss—among other things, it’s their first album without founding guitarist Fred Cowan—it still drips in an overarching feeling of optimism.

“Sometimes it feels like I don’t belong anywhere,” Young sings on urgent opener, “Sometimes, I Swear,” which he wrote about the “innate human need to be part of something.”

The songwriter himself has had an innate ability to set a place and supporting cast, ever since the band’s 2011 debut, What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?, with songs like “Wetsuit” and “All In White.” While fanfare surrounding the band has dimmed, The Vaccines can still bring on intense emotional pangs drenched in euphoria and melancholy.

The guitar interplay between Young and Timothy Lanham—who joined the band around 2017 on a touring basis and has replaced Cowan after the latter left for family life—remains a spirited riff-heavy attack.

The bass heavy thump of Árni Árnason on “Heartbreak Kid” is melodic and memorable, adding a hint of pop-punk that feels more modern than retro. The song delivers a fist-pumping catharsis when the chorus hits. The performance aesthetic shouldn’t be a surprise for a band that’s shared the stage with the likes of the Arctic Monkeys and is about to hit the road with the Kooks.

“Lunar Eclipse” slows the pace slightly, with Árnason rounding out the low end. The band tapped Halsey collaborator Andrew Wells to produce the album; a solid choice who managed to bridge the band’s generational influences to create a cohesive and exciting record.

Young tests his lush lower vocal register on the anthemic “Discount De Kooning (Last One Standing)” as he sings of finding the brightness and optimism in a world that often doesn’t lend itself to it.

“Even if the song is all gone and it’s the end of the world/ No, nothing’s gonna stop us, gonna stop us now,” he sings on the track that’s rounded out by a layering of synths and keys.

“Primitive Man” doubles down on the throwback guitar pop that defines the quartet’s sound. It’s a caffeinated shot of upbeat melody with drummer Yoann Intonti doing his best to remind you of someone in some British Invasion band. “Sunkissed” is then a defined stylistic shift, with a meandering mid-tempo beat underlying the groove. At times, the track almost feels like early Weezer.

The energy picks back up on “Another Nightmare,” which dials in the dynamics between moody verses and a loud energetic chorus. It delves into the challenges of overcoming depression and the difficult journey it takes to get there.

“I don’t want the hate and anger they gave me/ All pills and percocets daily numbing and running to nothing,” Young sings.

On the flip side, “Love to Walk Away” is a glorious pop throwback, providing the most memorable riffs on the record. Young’s vocals soar, and the band locks in on a driving and melodic arrangement made whole by a quick but fiery guitar solo. The alt-leaning “The Dreamer” keeps up the momentum, with a meat and potatoes rock and roll song.

“I was managing your expectations on a pick-up full of pink carnations,” sings Young, referencing the album title (which itself is a nod to a misremembered lyric in Don MacLean’s “American Pie,” a song that’s also about losses of innocence and the picture-perfect image of America, which influenced Young while working on the album).

The Vaccines have made so many memorable songs, and the album concludes on another one of them, “Anonymous in Los Feliz,” a stirring pop-rocker.

Editor Roman Gokhman contributed to this story. Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.