Quiet Life – California Vacation

I came across a few tracks from Quiet Life (Myspace) a while back. I really enjoyed them and looked forward to hearing more sometime. Well, that time has come with the release of their newest EP, California Vacation.

As with the last batch of songs I listened to, the tracks here are a fun and loose collection that shows signs of California canyon-country, folk and a dash or two of Whiskeytown thrown in the concoction. “Downtown” is a raw, swinging and barn-burning hoedown, while “Games People Play” successfully shimmies in the Golden State sunshine. Call me crazy, but I think that the “Laurel Canyon Vibe” has become perhaps my favorite musical theme, when done effectively. The warmth of such a retro-fitted sound has served many great albums well as of late.  A reworked “Cave Country” subtracts the jangly acoustic folk-rock in favor of a stripped down and more sparsely arranged version that meshes with the overall sonic theme. The vocals possess a vulnerable echo and are properly lo-fi and also suit the EP well as a whole.  

LISTEN: Quiet Life – “Downtown”

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LISTEN: Quiet Life – “Games People Play”

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Tags: Quiet Life, Whiskeytown