The Dirty Heads Deliver a Boisterous Vacation

Hey kids! Huntington Beach's favorite reggae band The Dirty Heads has returned to mellow us out and remind us that daydreams don't cost you anything and can sometimes be dazzling. Big ups to the video director of "Vacation" who shined a light on the joy of having a job you're eager to get to each day. In this case that salute comes in the guise of what I'm guessing is a school principal. Jared "Dirty J" Watson and Dustin "Duddy B" Bushnell do an outstanding job of animating the principal who waxes eloquent about how through hard work he's been given the chance to do what he loves on the daily. That's a feeling of pride that any working stiff or unemployed couch potato can appreciate. It makes sense that reggae would be an appropriate backdrop for a topic like this. Most principals I'm gathering can't wait for the lunch hour to come so they can commiserate with their fellow molders of young minds. Not in the Dirty Heads universe. The principal prances around the school as if he won Principal of the Year honors or some similar trinket of acknowledgement. I'm fond of the way the vocals swoon when we come to the section of "every single day-ay" It perfectly captures what the protagonist is reveling in. Toss in some fine bass playing courtesy of David Foral. Then add in bouncy drums by Matt Ochoa and you've got yourself an inside voice level party not likely to be matched by anybody else anytime soon. Jared comes off as a self-assured chap who fashions a knowing smile at his enemies who scorn him just because he's worked hard to get where he has and they're doing nothing to better their own lot in life, grousing not being a solid Plan A, B, or C. All of us can appreciate the notion of having only one life to live and not doing so in any other way. The melody of "Vacation" certainly is breezy, the far from easy life Jared crows about. All you'd really need to make the visual complete is a bottle of Spanish Fly. Of course any real world principal worth his awkward striped tie would confiscate that in three seconds flat. No matter. To these ears "Vacation" is a tune sorely needed because of its angel food cake fluffiness. These are angst ridden time we're waddling through so an extended coffee break of some kind bears inclusion. At a juncture in history when the friendly skies are becoming more and more like the grumpy skies "Vacation" gives us a safer yet no less enjoyable form of staycation where you won't have to mess with the riff raff in coach class.