Simple and succinct garage rock is provided by THE VACATION: a no frills, tell it how it is outfit based in Hollywood. Maybe it is their St. Louis roots that help to make this quartet a fresh break from the phony tradition?
Of course, rants about not fitting in and feeling unloved are as trite as Dale Winton’s jokes, but there is a difference if you truly believe and live what you sing and are not merely peddling a bunch of easy objections. In ‘White Noise’ and ‘I’m No Good’ the slightly hoarse and emotive vocals from Ben Tegel are helped along by the battering, incessant riffs of his guitarist brother Steve and the whole thing gives off a passionate and heartfelt vibe.
The theme of using alcohol as a crutch to guide you through life runs through the album like sewage through the river Mersey, being most prevalent in the whining ‘Liquid Lunch’ and also making a guest appearance in ‘No Hard Feelings’. It's been done before, sure, but rarely this eloquently.
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This Eleven track offering pummels the listener with honesty and contains enough instrumentally to lift you onto your feet and indulge in some cathartic head banging. However, the lyrics make it difficult for you to resist performing this activity against a brick wall, so be warned.
www.thevacationmusic.com
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