Vehicles & Animals

Vehicles & Animals is the debut studio album by British rock band Athlete. It was released on 7 April 2003 through Parlophone. After changing their music style from Britpop, Athlete released a self-titled extended play (EP) in early 2002; its lead track "Westside" brought attention from Parlophone and the band joined the label. "You Got the Style" was released as a single in mid 2002, after which Athlete recording their debut album with producer Victor Van Vugt. Vehicles & Animals is an indie rock and post-Britpop album that emulates the style of Blur, Eels and Stereophonics.

Vehicles & Animals received generally positive reviews from music critics, though some of them saw it as uninspiring. The album charted at number 19 in the United Kingdom, and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry in 2005. "Beautiful" was released as the second single from Vehicles & Animals, followed by the third single "El Salvador" and a UK tour in early 2003. The fourth single "Westside" and a re-release of "You Got the Style" appeared in June and September 2003, respectively. Two more UK tours followed, one closing 2003 and the other opening 2004. Of the album's singles, "El Salvador" had the highest chart peak, reaching number 31 in the UK and number 40 in Scotland.