Vacationer's 2012 full-length debut
Gone features singer/songwriter Kenny Vasoli's particular mix of psych and sampledelic indie-pop. This is dreamy, lightly funky, and always tripped-out pop that brings to mind a mix of such similarly inclined contemporaries as
Beach House and
Animal Collective. Vasoli, who often sounds like a mix of
Blur's
Damon Albarn and
Mojave 3's
Neil Halstead, clearly has a knack for coming up with yearning, kaleidoscopically melodic, and literate songs, which he produces with a studio-wizard's talent for layered and dense arrangements full of sparkling keyboards, and chiming guitars over hip-hop beats and dusty LP-samples. From the low-key,
Gorillaz-style funk of "Everyone Knows" to the orchestral '60s Baroque and sunshine pop vibe of "Trip" to the echoey, girl group-sounding ballad title track,
Gone is a consistently engaging listen. ~ Matt Collar