New Music Critique: Vacances

As Vacances, Brooklyn-based Danny Lannon’s got a gift for catchy pop-rock hooks and he mounts them in radio-ready fashion. The familiar-sounding rocker “Damage” rides a relentless 4/4 beat to deliver a song that brims with sun-bleached optimism, with Lannon’s unexpectedly emo-soul voice contributing a subtly darker shade to the proceedings. With its undeniable hook, “Cool” bursts out of the speakers with summertime energy (“I’ll chill in the sunshine with my friends...!”). Though “Never Give Up” has a hook that takes longer to gel, it delivers some tasty Moog effervescence along the way. We can imagine Vacances appealing to the same crowd that digs Walk the Moon and Passion Pit.