"Good as New" by VACATIONER

Great vibes

“Smile. It’s contagious.” I know, what a trite platitude. Sounds like something that’s printed on a greeting card or a magnet on your aunt’s fridge. However banal that phrase may be, there is evidence that it’s true. For example, Vacationer’s 2012 jam “Good as New.” A daydream of a song, the East Coast-based band’s free-flowing, psychedelic alternative pop sound is the musical manifestation of a smile, and if you listen, you won’t be able to help but catch the bug. Soothingly repetitive orchestral strings and cheery vibraphone pecks intertwine with almost hip-hop-like drum kit percussion, steady bass, and sparing swells of guitar to create a serene musical landscape that allows singer/bassist Kenny Vasoli’s voice to flourish unimpeded. Given his pop-punk roots with The Starting Line, Vasoli’s voice is surprisingly gentle and measured; a voice you can only imagine being produced by a mouth that’s well-versed in grinning and inexperienced in the art of grimacing.

Vacationer’s style is self-described as Nu-Hula, incorporating electronic instrumentation along with a classic semitropical vibe; the faint static in the background of “Good as New” almost sounds like the tide washing in and out, taking your problems far out to sea and leaving you without a care in the world, hands behind your head, lounging on the beach. Let’s all join hands together in prayer that Vacationer will release new music again soon and take us on another ride where troubles seem trivial and worries wither away.