BOWLING FOR SOUP spin off PEOPLE ON VACATION had every single chance to be a pile of trash. There’s no doubt that the playing in BFS for so many years may eventually produce a desire to try something a little less silly, but when you’ve taken yourself with a pinch of salt for so long, a more ‘serious’ sound can have catastrophic results – fortunately that’s not the case with ‘The Carry On EP’ from Jaret Reddick and Ryan Hamilton of SMILE SMILE.
A summery and acoustic pop-rock sound could possibly have been expected from the recent BOWLING FOR SOUP acoustic tours, but it’s worth giving PEOPLE ON VACATION credit in their own right for the great songwriting here. A tasteful and whistled melody alongside a piano backing on ‘It’s Not Love’ is the perfect example of what the EP’s about; songs that would soundtrack one of those wonderful stereotypical summer activities like an afternoon in a park, a road trip with the windows down open or a BBQ.
The EP does run out of ideas a little bit towards the end, being weighted with the better tracks in its first half, but if taken for what it is there’s very little reason to suggest that this is anything less than an enjoyable listen.
TOM AYLOTT