Band From World War Zero
Warner Bros.
- Phil Dokas
- “This lighting is not nearly as dramatic as my writing.” (Courtesy of Harley Soltes)
The Vacation’s latest release portrays a duct-taped microphone in the crotch of vocalist Ben Tegel. This sums up the album well, a grungy, gritty sounds-like-AC/DC band with four dudes unabashedly rocking from the seat of their acid-wash jeans. The jeans fit, and the boys steam flat their white marks of rock hubris to parade them out for the listener.
The outfit is simple in its energetic beauty. “Spiders” comes in with a chopping, creeping electronic sound, as Vocalist Ben Tegel vibrates “I see the spiders creeping around my bed / When I was sleeping spinning me into their web” over obligatory clapping, guttural screams and lacerating guitar licks. The boys skip across the surface and avoid murky depths with “Cherry Cola,” a bouncy quick-stop that makes the important statement that “Oh yeah, for the moment, it’s all right.” “Destitute Prostitutes” demands the listener raise the fist of rock to the building electric guitar heroics and pound to the pull of a steam-roller guitar solo running over the steady-quick tempo.
The Vacation is not AC/DC, but a rather quick reminder that you should always keep a microphone in the pants. Go from the gut. Don’t stop believing. As “No Hard Feelings” runs, “We had some fun, but / Now I have to quit it.” There’s not much more to say.