Super Vacations

Picture this: You’re cleaning out your parents’ attic when you come across a video cassette next to the porthole window. It’s a reissue of a ‘60s surf movie, and the sun has not only blurred the smiling, sun-kissed faces on its cover but also warped the plastic tape itself. You’re still intrigued, so you take a break and pop the tape into the living room VCR. The images you’re confronted with are gloriously psychedelic. Boarders ride waves as colors shift in blown-out bursts, happy images fading in and out in a captivating rainbow. The music has been similarly warped. Sensual surf riffs bend and contort in low hollow tones, adopting not just the exhilaration of gliding atop the water, but also the crushing power of the waves. The vocals retain their carefree frivolity but struggle through a layer of warm fuzz. It's a fun, yet somewhat frightening mix, one that retains the incredible highs of teenage days on the beach, while also dipping into the hormone-drenched lows of beachside heartbreak.

Though their means are purely sonic, Virginia’s Super Vacations have exactly the same impact of such a sun-shaped tape. Formed in 2007, the quintet delivers consistently captivating psych jams that ride surf rock waves with gritty, mind-altering intensity. It’s a technique that’s never been more effective than on the band’s new Ruby cassette. With six concise and powerful jams, the band wrangles their typically untamed guitar haze, creating heady, yet transparent clouds of blissful noise that frame their songs wonderfully. Super-slick jangles of guitar punch through as bass lines pound like the pistons of a vintage sports car. Delivering the sweet, summery joy of classic surf with a gripping rock jolt, the Super Vacations deliver perfect, unexpected summer thrills. —Jordan Lawrence