New music, big residency for hard-working Vacation

When I last saw the Vacation, front man Ben Tegel was climbing all over the furniture at Safari Sam's, giving one of those boozy, sweaty, unhinged performances for which the L.A. quartet became known. That was over a year ago, when Tegel and bandmates were a bit drunk on the euphoria of having been picked up by Rick Rubin's American Recordings.

The Vacation's debut album was re-jiggered and re-released in 2006, the band started to write and play songs for a follow-up, and ... poof. Rubin moved from Warner to Columbia, and the Vacation got lost in all the packing tape. The band's relationship with American ended last autumn.

"They kind of strung us along for a while, but I'm not complaining about it because it's the same story a lot of bands have," Tegel says. "We're just glad to have a clean break.

"It's a weird landscape in music right now."

With their characterisitic swagger, the Vacation aims to paint itself back into that landscape. They have a new album recorded, tentatively titled "Dead Time," and will be posting a downloadable track per week on their MySpace site during their residency at the Viper Room, which begins tonight. Up now: "I Can't Dance With You," and on Friday "---- Talker" will be posted.

The new material reaches further thematically than did their original batch of hollers and rants about street life and various L.A. indulgences. "There's a song about the war in Afghanistan, which nobody talks about anymore," Tegel says. "In fact, I don't know if they're war songs as much as occupation songs."

||| Live: The Vacation play tonight (with Katy Perry, among others) and every Thursday in February at the Viper Room.

Photo by Stephen Albanese

More highlights for Thursday, Feb. 7

Songstress alert: Colbie Caillat plays the House of Blues, and Sara Bareilles joins James Blunt at the Wiltern, but look out for Ceci Bastida (Julieta Venegas' keyboardist), who is performing at Bordello. ... the Kooks' show at the Troubadour is sold out. ... The Entrance Band kicks off a residency at the Silverlake Lounge. ... The Lilys play the Echo. ... And John Ralson and Limbeck do a second night at the Alterknit Lounge