Although Lunar Vacation aren’t quite personages of Pitchfork just yet, they have certainly been making a name for themselves recently, especially around the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection, where they played three shows last year. Last February the Georgia indie rock band opened a sold-out show for The Beths at Underground Arts, before going on to play PhilaMOCA alongside The Slaps in June, and closing out the year with an opening set on the mainstage of The Front Bottoms’ annual Champagne Jam spectacular at The Fillmore. Well, they’ll be back this Thursday, March 23rd, when they’ll be supporting 21st Century art pop legends Rubblebucket (with whom they’re currently on a short run of dates) at Brooklyn Bowl.
Lunar Vacation churn out super dreamy and extra fuzzy sunshine punk, which they have apparently come to refer to as “pool rock.” Yesterday I got a chance to chat with Lunar Vacation guitarist and co-founder Maggie Geeslin, and when I ask her their biggest collective influences, she cites Yo La Tengo as the biggest, likely alongside Radiohead, Bjork, and Big Thief, although she also admits that the artists they tour with have a major influence on them, as well. And she tells me the band’s three shows here last year were all “super great,” and made even more exciting because of the variations in setting, noting that the stages of cozier rooms like PhilaMOCA can be refreshing because it’s essentially how the band practices, but that they certainly don’t mind performing from bigger stages, which are often better equipped. She also tells me anyone who might have enjoyed one of those sets should definitely come out this Thursday, as these dates will provide a new show from the band: “This tour we’re trying out a lot of new songs. We’re kind of putting on more of a rock show this time!” She also adds that Rubblebucket’s headlining set will also help to make the evening more than worth the price of admission: “They put on such an engaging production. It’s really more like theatre… It’s been so amazing!”
Although Lunar Vacation are regularly cited as an Atlanta band, I find out while chatting with Geeslin that they’re technically based a little outside of the city… when they’re not on the road, that is: “We’ve spent the past like four years, minus the pandemic, touring… But we decided to all move into a house together in Decatur, Georgia.” She tells me that their living situation not only makes writing and rehearsing super easy for the band, but that it’s made their transitions to touring go more smoothly: “It’s made touring easier. It’s like bringing your home on the road.” She even goes so far as to tell me, “I’m gonna speak for the band and say that’s the biggest highlight of the band.”
This Valentine’s Day Lunar Vacation premiered single “Only You,” their first new original music since their 2021 debut LP, Inside Every Fig is a Dead Wasp, which was produced by Grouplove’s Daniel Gleason and came courtesy of Keeled Scales (also home to our friends in Why Bonnie and Sun June). Paste said the album, “Melds the timelessly bright and precise melodies of Alvvays with breezy psychedelia and intimate, singer/songwriter-style introspection—elements that combine to irresistible effect.” The new track, which Geeslin tells me signifies the band’s acoustic approach to music, was inspired by singer/guitarist Grace Repasky’s introspections that came about while finishing college online. And Geeslin tells me that there’s more new music on the way, which will likely include recordings of some of the songs they play on Thursday: “2023 will be a year of making and writing. Hopefully we’ll get in the studio this summer!”
*Get your tickets here.
