I Saw Lunar Vacation (On Earth!)
5.12.26 - Seattle, WA
Openers oftentimes don't get the respect that they deserve. It's a difficult balance for an opening band. Audiences sometimes choose to miss an opener if they haven't heard of them before and they want an extra thirty minutes at their dinner reservation. They'll show up halfway through a set, something that is very obvious from up on stage, no matter how inconspicuous one tries to be. All the way, the opener needs to warm up the audience members that have deigned to show up for them for the main act. It is, in many ways, a thankless task. And in the indie circuit, this can hit even harder.
Given that you're taking the time to read an indie music publication (thank you!) there's a decent chance that you've heard of Wild Nothing. An indie rock group manned by Jack Tatum, the project has been active since 2009. Their track "Chinatown," off their 2010 album Gemini, is probably their most recognizable track. At the hair salon, about four hours before this concert began, my hair stylist moaned in jealousy that I was getting to see them perform.
But while I would get to see Wild Nothing perform, they were not the project I was in attendance for. I was there for Lunar Vacation.
Gep Repasky and Maggie Geeslin prepare to perform at Neumos
Photo by Megan Lorich
Lunar Vacation is a five-piece band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2016. Gep Repasky (lead vocalist and guitarist) and Maggie Geeslin (backing vocalist and guitarist) formed the band while in high school. Connor Dowd (drummer), Matteo DeLurgio (keyboardist), and Ben Wulkan (bassist) would also end up joining the project.
But what do Lunar Vacation sound like? Since the band is opening for Wild Nothing, the easy assumption is that they must fall in the same musical routines of synthy trancy indie pop with the occasional electric guitar. Not quite. In fact, the most apt comparison I could draw between Lunar Vacation is another project I heard while in line for my press pass: "Uh… I guess they're kinda like Real Estate?".
Well, the opening song of their set, "Something," certainly fits the bill. After a brief moment of setup, the band launches into the spacey track. Repasky's vocals soar really nicely in the space (though Neumos' acoustics can be a bit hit or miss, as we'll discuss later). This seemingly unreleased track was a great way to open their set, and if we're going back to Real Estate comparisons, it meets the same sort of hazy feeling of "Beach Comber."
"Set The Stage" was their next track, which comes off their sophomore album "Everything Matters, Everything's Fire." The album as a whole sees the band coming more into a shoegaze sound. If you listen to the studio version of the track, you'll easily be transported to a sort of dismal, floaty feeling, like being underwater in a bathtub. On stage, Lunar Vacation recreates this sensation by putting some slight reverb on Repasky's vocals. Guitar pedals are a mainstay for both Repasky and Geeslin, who shift between pre-sets often between tracks. Geeslin also acts as backing vocals on this track, helping to reinforce the despair in the outro's lyrics: "Change and change again/Change on me again," with slight variations.
Rather than holding out the gritty almost static-esque sound of the guitars on the outro live, as they do on the studio version, Repasky introduces the band briefly, explaining that they're from Atlanta. In no time at all, the band is performing "Peddler," a track off their first album "Inside Every Fig is a Dead Wasp." While the track is certainly more upbeat than "Set The Stage," both the live and studio versions of "Peddler" clearly reflect a hint of the shoe gaze influence featured on the previous track in their set. This is done through some clever, and heavier, guitar breakdowns that separate the more upbeat sections of "Peddler." It almost makes the track feel like a distorted surf rock song in some ways, especially with the slow fading electric guitar strums closing the track.
Lunar Vacation performs at Neumos
Photo by Megan Lorich
A surprising 2020 single is up next in their set – "Unlucky." While Real Estate is certainly an apt comparison for Lunar Vacation, "Unlucky" is pure Mac DeMarco. It's as if Salad Days had a cousin just coming out of their emo phase. One center light over the stage keeps randomly flickering. While likely not planned by the production team, it feels fittingly haunted for Repasky's refrain of "You're in love and I'm unlucky." It's a spacey sort of feeling that takes the crowd by storm, audience members swaying back and forth. But the track itself has an incredibly special moment at the bridge where the instrumentation drops out entirely and Repasky slowly drums up excitement. "Safe face for tonight/Keep on thinking it's just a line/Safe face for tonight/I know you're thinking it's only right." In the studio version of the track, it's certainly a moment that listeners won't be able to miss. But live, the wise decision to keep a thrumming electric guitar ramping Repasky up makes the slam into the final repeated refrain of "You're in love and I'm unlucky," hit that much harder. Wulkan's bassline is also an incredible throughline in the track, acting as another building block to make that bridge so special.
"Everstays" is another unreleased track. It features incredibly disillusioned lyrics for such an upbeat song. The poetic irony is baked into the instrumentation, and it will be interesting to see how the live version of the track compares to an eventual studio version. It may be because this song is new that Maggie Geeslin's wonderful vocal solo felt overwhelmed. I originally thought that the softer vocals I was hearing was because I was located at the very front of the venue right by the rhythm section. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I was wrong. Geeslin's performance unfortunately felt like she was being buried by a karaoke track. From scanning the room behind me, it became clear this was either a mixing issue or due to Neumos' acoustics, not one of crowd positioning. This does not take away from how wonderful "Everstays" is as a track, rather that there are kinks to work out when it comes to how it is mixed live or if it'll be killed by a venue's architecture. At the very least, the track features an incredible instrumental breakdown worthy of a killer stank face.
Moving back to Inside Every Fig is a Dead Wasp, the band geared up to play… "Gears." It's definitely a repetitive earwormy track, particularly its chorus. Yet another track with a great steady in the background, the use of ambient synth in the background highlights the rhythm section expertly, making it all the more resonant. While the track's breakdown is not taking "Unlucky's" throne, it comes very close. Lunar Vacation is excellent at knowing how to use dynamics in their songs and "Gears" is a prime example. The track concludes with its building wall of sound completely stopping, almost as if the song got vacuumed.
To recover from the noise of "Gears," Repasky begins their next track, "Fantasy," solo with their guitar. When the band kicks into full gear, we return to that same spacey sound. As mentioned, again and again, this is what Lunar Vacation does best. Their emphasis on dynamics, in tandem with how the band uses reverb, pedals, and other tools, is the perfect recipe for their hazy sound. After the band fades out, Repasky talks to the audience quickly again. "Happy Tuesday everybody. Another Tuesday in the back pocket," they mutter as the band gets ready to play the oldest tracks on their set list.
Lunar Vacation’s Neumos setlist
Photo by Megan Lorich
"The Basement" and "Swimming" are two of the band's most popular tracks. Both tracks are off EPs, Artificial Flavors (2018) and Swell (2017) respectively. It's sort of impossible to not want to dance to "The Basement." From its first guitar hook, the track creates a sunshiney feeling like the orange juice on the cover of Artificial Flavors. Bright and bouncy, it's a track that deserves to be danced to completely. Unfortunately, while the crowd at Neumos were definitely bopping their heads and shifting their feet from side to side, dance moves were not busted. This isn't the fault of the band themselves or the track, but rather part of the curse of opening for a different act. It should also be noted that despite how upbeat and summery "The Basement" starts off, the lyrics grow more and more disillusioned as the track continues. "I really want to go home," Repasky croons, hoping to leave the basement party the track depicts. It's the only slow break in the song before the track ramps back up, as if the party will always continue regardless of Repasky's feelings. "The Basement's" concluding keyboard and guitar solos rip, just a fast jam of a conclusion that's perfect.
"Swimming" is all slow strums, the kind of tune that could be used for couples at prom. But like "The Basement," "Swimming" is also a sad song about a party. In fact, the tracks are almost mirrored halves in a way. Where "The Basement" starts with happy lyrics and devolves into loneliness, all while keeping its upbeat tempo, "Swimming" does the opposite. While the track's protagonist certainly ruminates on how inadequate she feels, the repeated chorus reassures listeners that "In the middle of the night she saw the way/And in the middle of the night she felt okay." While these tracks were the oldest on Lunar Vacation's setlist, they're also some of the band's best songs. It's no surprise that they're mainstays on the band's set after almost ten years since their release.
Repasky and Geeslin exchange words back and forth at the microphone. One voice then the other, for a good few seconds, until the band ramps up to a true rock tune. The drums are fast on "Cutting Corners," the final track of Lunar Vacation's set. It's no wonder that the brief dropout of the band on the last two words of the first verse makes the chorus pack an extra punch when they come back in. While this moment is present on the studio version of the track, it really comes crashing when performed live. As showcased through other tracks in their set, "Cutting Corners" also puts disillusioned lyrics against a peppy backdrop. The track is only two minutes and has a quick conclusion as well. The band moves quickly after the applause ends, ready to make way for Wild Nothing.
To any Wild Nothing fan in the audience, Lunar Vacation's set probably solidified why they were chosen to open for the project. If not, perhaps the psychedelic imagery on the lit screen behind Wild Nothing as they performed may have clued the audience in. Like the band's name suggests, listening to their music, no matter how grounded and earthly their lyrics may be, feels like floating in outer space. Wild Nothing performs with fruitiger aero aquarium fish dancing behind them. Listening to "Set the Stage" feels like swimming through a black ocean dotted with stars. "The Basement" feels like surfing Jupiter's stormy eye. Seeing the band live is literally taking a vacation to outer space. In fact, their merch says as much. You can purchase a tote bag from the band which reads "I Saw Lunar Vacation Perform (Live) On Earth."
While space travel may not be available to any non-astronauts with a net worth under a billion dollars, listening to Lunar Vacation may be the next best thing. If you don't have a space suit, put on your headphones and listen to the band. Take a Lunar Vacation of your own.
