Vacation
Rock / Undefined
he Vacation plays a gritty, swaggering brand of rock and roll that recalls the visceral punch of punk, the anarchic energy of turn-of-the-‘70s garage bands, and the monster hooks of such vaunted outfits as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Kinks and The Clash.
Based in Hollywood and fronted by singer Ben Tegel and guitarist Steve Tegel (TEE-gul), The Vacation put itself on the map with residencies at The Kibbitz Room – where members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Guns N’ Roses, among other now-famous acts, cut their teeth – Spaceland and The Silverlake Lounge. The band quickly built a loyal following, then launched an assault on the U.K. with performances at The Reading and Leeds festivals, an EP on the respected indie Fierce Panda (Coldplay, Supergrass, The Thrills), and a live appearance on the alternative rock station XFM. The Vacation have also won the affection of the Australian buzz band Jet – drummer-singer Chris Cester even wrote a column about them for the NME.
The Vacation’s EP, They Were The Sons, was produced by the acclaimed Tony Hoffer (Beck, Supergrass, The Thrills). No less than Rolling Stone gave it three and a half stars, remarking: “The brash four-piece uses irresistible snake-charmer bass lines to glue together Detroit scuzz, hook-y retro punk à la the Damned and shout-along glam choruses. Bad attitude never felt so good, dude.” The track “White Noise” earned regular rotation on the aforementioned XFM and was selected as “Catch Of The Day” at Los Angeles’ trendsetting KROQ. The same week, “Make Up Your Mind” landed on FOX’s much-watched “The O.C.” In April, “No Hard Feelings,” a track from the band’s forthcoming debut full-length album, was added to the playlist of LA’s hip new station Indie 103.
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