Vacation = lo-fi amazingness from Cincinnati. I think that could actually be a full review, but I doubt it would bode well for my reputation, and honestly not enough positive things can be said about this band. Their brain of pop-punk is infinitely catchy and the dudes are friendly to the core. The band is made up of Evan Wolff on bass, Jerome Westerkamp on drums and vocals, and Peyton Dabney Copes on guitar and vocals. They lived at this place called the Bike Haus (along with this dude Troy) and had shows there that were only 5 bucks a show, and 100% of the money went to the bands. They also fixed up bikes for people for free, and had a tall bike that Troy or Peyton said I could ride, but I forgot and never got the chance. The Bike Haus was my favorite venue to play at, and I miss it so much.
So basically, they're all friends, and have this band called Vacation, along with other like incestuous Cincinnati bands that they're involved with, such as You Blockhead (which just released a demo tape recently). They originally released this shit on cassette, and it's called The Do Shit Tape, which I can probably take a picture of my copy later and edit it into this review. But, they also released it as a Disc and it's up for free download on the hipster-punk site If You Make It. These songs are all as lo-fi as you can get, and I'm pretty sure they were recorded and engineered by them at the Bike Haus without outside help. It's an honest effort from honest dudes and it's honestly worth your fucking time (what else were you going to do rather than listen to it? Listen to the new Screeching Weasel album? It sucks, don't bother).
while the tape only has like 4 songs or something, we're blessed with 6 tracks for the ifyoumakeit release. As I said, it's lo-fi, so if you're not into that, I feel bad for you and all, but just get out now. It's kind of similar to shit like Punkin Pie's Broke Truck Good Luck album, where it may sound like a live album, but still has quality songs on it. But, really, you're far better off seeing Vacation live and experience them before listening to what might as well be a live CD, because you'll just appreciate this release much more.
The songs are full of catchy vocal lines, simple yet awesome guitar bits, and a good amount of woahs and ohs. Including the bit in "Big Scary Dudes" that just sounds like that one Misfits song that Jay Tea parodies. These songs may exhibit some qualities of ramonescore or misfitscore music, but it's not some overbearing style that they adhere to. They're not striving to fit in a specific subculture, and they're not limiting the creative flow to the same basic concept for each song. There's definitely a nice variety in style that appear through this release, and that's what makes it something worth paying attention to. Like the song "Wyatt Song" has no definite style, but just sounds like Latterman meets some angry school kids who listen to skate punk.
There are not enough songs to get a huge grasp on this band, but there are enough to know that the next album is going to be the shit. Lucky for me, I get to go see them play with The Dopamines and Jeff Rosenstock tonight. So after I'm done listening to this album in excess, I get to go watch them play this album and more. I think I just won at life, internet.
Pick The Do Shit Disc up at If You Make It and enjoy the shit out of it. Oh, you can also check out their blog here for updates on the band and a list of upcoming shows and shit. There's also a new song over on their blog, hit it up.
-Idle
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