Winter Vacation
The Netherlands, 1980 (CD-R)
 A lovely little album passed the Shmat's way recently, Winter Vacation's The Netherlands, 1980. David Yourdon (who also plays in The Pathways) contributes vocals reminiscient of Tullycraft or Masters of the Hemisphere, but his musical ambitions are less twee, much more introspective, and even at times folky. "My Country Friends" is set up like a Belle and Sebastian song but with frequent organ and/or accordian. The production values are definitely lo-fi, but the tunes are catchy as hell. "Rained On Together" has such a swimmingly catchy ending chrous that it made the Shmat want to dance! Winter Vacation often reminds the Shmat of Pants Yell! in their approach to the structures of songs. "Life Imitates Arthur" contains nice piano work along with some wiggly slide whistle doodling. Just to prove that pure indie pop isn't the only card up his sleeve, Yourdon also gives us "Upstate Estate", a folk picked number complete with a bit of whistling, and the beautiful instrumental "Balloon Township" which kinda reminds the Shmat of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold". "Aimless" is a bit 80s sounding, while "World Color War" is more post-rock modern, perhaps Sea and Cake? The ending track, "The Alps", throws in some mopey American Analog Set sounding riffs for good measure.
As with a lot of good music, Winter Vacation doesn't come off as really in your face and as such may require some deeper listening to get into. But the songs are really open and honest when you get down to it, so that won't be such a difficult thing. If you need a vacation from all the media hype and just want some good songs to listen to, Winter Vacation is the way to go.
- review by SHMAT (2.16.05)
Asaurus Records
PO Box 0664
Allen Park, MI 48101-0664
thewintervacations@yahoo.com
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