EP Review: Vacation Club ‘Self-titled’
Last year, Vacation Club hit Indianapolis’ underground music scene like a whirlwind. The band was seemingly everywhere, with lead singer Sam Thompson brandishing his signature squeal at local landmarks like The Melody Inn, Radio Radio and innumerable house shows on the band’s home turf of Fountain Square. Regardless the size of the audience or venue, Vacation Club offered listeners relentless energy paired with authentic rock n’ roll attitude.
Musical Family Tree author and fellow Indy musician Jon Rogers perhaps said it best last November, when he wrote: “…Vacation Club have got to be crazy. And not just “hearing voices” crazy. More like “hearing voices that tell you to stab mom while drinking shoe polish and eating cigarette butts and blasting Slayer at 5 AM” crazy. But somehow, it’s still what you’d call the good kind of crazy.” For ample evidence, check out the band’s travelogue of last year’s tour through the South in the form of their aptly titled Tumblr 2BROKE4DRUGS. (Warning: not safe for work)
After a pair of 7″ releases on local vinyl label GloryHole Records, Vacation Club was recently inked to Montevallo, Alabama’s Happenin Records. The label is set to release Vacation Club’s self-titled EP on cassette this week. The six-track release is currently available for download from VC’s Bandcamp page.
Any attempt to harness or tame Vacation Club’s sound would likely prove an ill-advised and hopeless venture. However, the band has successfully softened its edges on their debut EP, offering listeners a more accessible recording than any of their previous material. The album opens with “Daydream,” a track that showcases Jeb Lambert’s shimmering, echo-heavy riffs on guitar and Thompson’s helium-infused vocals. The bridge erupts in a cacophony of contrasting guitars, before collapsing into a glorious exchange of “oohs and aahs.”
From there, we plunge head-long into a stiff cocktail of sound that features a single shot of psychedelic surf rock, a double shot of punk, and a hefty splash of doo-wop, served noisily in a nearby garage. On the standout “Hold My Hand,” bassist Brandon Jackson walks out a bouncing bass line that serves as the backbone of my favorite Vacation Club track to date. Somewhere, many octaves above, Thompson croons, “I know it’s dark in the back of my mind / But I still seem to see right through / It’s hard to hold my hand when I’m high / But when I’m not, I do it for you.”
For Vacation Club, an exhaustive year spent honing their sound in Indianapolis’ nether-regions appears to be paying off. They are the first non-Alabama act added to Happenin Records’ roster. The band is currently on tour through the middle of August. Local readers can catch them at The Bishop Bar in Bloomington on September 24. Listen and download your copy of the Vacation Club EP below.
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Written by Rob Peoni
Album Review: Ray West ‘Luv NY’
Over the last few years, New York producer Ray West has quietly had his hands in some of the best hip hop music around. West’s jazzy, sample-based production and preference to work with 1990s holdovers like AG, Roc Marciano, and Party Arty gives his music a throwback feel, but not in a cliché trying-to-recapture-the-golden-age type of way. His one-on-one album with Diggin’ in the Crates (DITC) legend AG Everything’s Berri exceeded all expectations and showed that it was possible for rappers to revive dormant careers with the proper focus and the right producer in tow. West and his Red Apples Forty-Five record label have slowly been raising their profile, and Luv NY is a true statement of arrival. The album’s New York focus is clear, specifically honing in on the feeling that 90’s New York hip hop gave its listeners and participants, even if the beats themselves and the rhymes on display feel more evolved than typical mid 90s NY hip hop. AG is joined on the album by Thought on Tracks favorite Roc Marciano, his DITC cohort O.C., and NY underground legend Kool Keith.
Not surprisingly AG, Roc Marci, and O.C. all sound comfortable over West’s trademark dusty-but-smooth grooves composed of understated drum samples and seamless, atmospheric loops. The surprise would have to be Kool Keith and his album stealing verses. Keith has always been one of the smartest, most original hip hop artists around, but his rapping had gotten more and more sporadic in recent years and most of his material that has surfaced has been hard to listen to for various reasons (mainly the beats). On Luv NY, Kool Keith sounds invigorated, contributing a standout solo track in “Remember U” and stealing the show on both “Extreme Status” with AG and “Pressure Up” with Roc Marci. The bouncy “Remember U” sees Keith riffing on the present and the future, and the nature of posing and perception in the modern flavor-of-the-moment climate. On the hilarious second verse, Keith describes himself as “a critic of a critic” and makes you wonder why he doesn’t work with producers like Ray West more often. “Pressure Up” is also a highlight, with Keith’s visual stylings contrasting perfectly with Marci’s awesome coming of age in the city tale. It’s a combo that looks strange on paper, but works flawlessly here.
Similar to Kool Keith, AG has sounded invigorated since he first started working with Ray West a couple of years ago. His conversational, witty verses are the glue that holds this album together and reveal an artist that has truly changed his style for the better in recent years, and in many ways has outgrown his legendary past. AG’s verse on “Egyptology” comes off like a mission statement and is a perfect example of how adept he has become at expressing himself, starting with “I ain’t the sickest with the sales, my intuition is rebel”, before breaking down his spiritual perspective. The spooky beat on “Random” and AG’s ode to the past through his stream of consciousness flow is a great closer, while his collaboration with Roc Marci “The Blues Got Ya” may be the most representative track of the albums overarching 90’s nostalgic feel, a fond look back at growing up in the middle of New York’s vibrant culture. AG’s DITC brother O.C. usually flies solo and it’s no different on Luv NY, as his contributions are limited to two solo tracks. “Legacy” sets the table perfectly for the album’s historical tone and West’s stuttering, minimalist beat for “Acid” is the perfect canvas for O.C.’s cooled out musings. While O.C. hasn’t really updated his style in the manner that AG has, he’s still a more than capable MC, as his solid album Trophies from earlier this year and his appearances here show.
There are a few other guests, most notably frequent MF DOOM collaborator Kurious who contributes the impressive ‘for the kids’ cut “Shorties Watching”, but the bulk of the rhymes are handled by the core group of AG, O.C., Roc Marci, & Kool Keith. Similar to The Alchemist’s Russian Roulette, Luv NY is not your typical producer album. Ray West chose the rappers for Luv NY carefully, whose appearances are a great example of the type of suction he’s gaining in a certain demographic of legendary NY MC’s. While it only contains one true instrumental track in “The Ritual”, that one perfectly placed hypnotic track is enough to prove that West’s music is effective with or without an MC. It’s hard to compare this album to some of the stellar, personal solo albums that have been released this year, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth your time. If you grew up listening to artists like DITC, Kool Keith, and Pete Rock there’s no reason you shouldn’t love this album, even if you’ve moved on from the boom bap sound that mid 90’s New York hip hop is associated with. It has an accessible feel, and is a quick, addicting listen. Download the album via iTunes or grab the CD from FatBeats.
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Written by John Bugbee
Album Review: The Alchemist ‘Russian Roulette’
Producers like The Alchemist are the main reason that I always check a rap album’s credits. Not only has Al been one of the best producers in hip hop for over 10 years, he has shown that he is capable of making almost any type of beat and always seems to bring the best out of the MC’s that he works with. If a rapper is fortunate enough to get a beat or two from The Alchemist on their album, you can usually assume those tracks will be among the album’s best. The Alchemist has made producer albums filled with random guest appearances before, and while those albums were successful projects, Russian Roulette is something different altogether, a true album that doesn’t feel like a compilation or beat tape.
As far as the beats, you can tell The Alchemist has been influenced by his Gangrene partner Oh No and Oh No’s brother Madlib, from the psychedelic 60’s and 70’s samples and loops to the short, random song structures. He uses the album’s Russian theme to not just incorporate vocal clips from Rocky IV, but even samples clips of Dolph Lundgren talking to Joan Rivers about his role as Ivan Drago. You might consider Russian Roulette The Alchemist’s “art album.” He has reached a status that allows him to pick and choose the rappers that he works with, and he picked some great rappers that have incredibly varied styles. The beats are what really stand out, but all the MC’s seem to fit in perfect with the blunted, aggressive but hazy aesthetic that Al is going for.
Roc Marciano’s appearance on “The Turning Point” is an obvious highlight, a beautifully detailed picture of success over Al’s eerie guitar sample. Danny Brown and ScHoolboy Q make for a great combo on the off-the-wall banger “Flight Confirmation”, which has a crazy NSFW video that you can view above. Action Bronson, Boldy James, and Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire all show why they’re some of the best new rappers around as well. EXquire and his Biggie influenced alien adventure on “The Explanation” stands out in particular and is a great ending to Al’s spacey album. The Alchemist’s ability to build custom tracks for his favorite MC’s combined with his flawless execution of a musical theme makes Russian Roulette a great front to back listen, as well as something you can throw on to vibe out to without devoting all of your attention to it. The entire album plays like one long song, a free flowing recording with the perfect balance of sharp verses and trippy instrumentals. Stream the album over at SPIN and purchase via iTunes.
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Written by John Bugbee
Thought on Tracks 