Vacations - "Last Call"
- 10 minutes ago
- 2 min read
There’s a particular magic to a great pop song that knows exactly when to get out of the way. ‘Last Call’, the new single from Australian indie-rock favourites Vacations, understands that completely. Clocking in with the energy of a band who have no intention of hanging around until closing time, ‘Last Call’ is short, sharp and seriously addictive — a bright, restless blast of indie pop built around that increasingly familiar feeling that life is moving faster than you are.
And beneath all those hooks, there’s something surprisingly existential going on. The song uses the final call at a bar as its central metaphor: that horrible little moment when the night is ending and you're suddenly confronted with everything you haven't done yet. Am I falling behind? Am I wasting time? Am I ever going to catch up?
Campbell Burns turns those questions into something far more uplifting than depressing. Rather than wallowing in the panic of getting older, ‘Last Call’ embraces uncertainty. Maybe you achieve the milestones you thought you were supposed to. Maybe you don't. Maybe your definition of success changes completely along the way.
That's a pretty big subject to squeeze into a punchy pop song. Vacations make it sound effortless. The track arrives as the third preview of the band's forthcoming album Pursuit of Anything, due 2 October via Nettwerk, and it offers another glimpse of a band increasingly comfortable with the tension between infectious pop songwriting and more complicated emotional territory.
Burns has described the album as being about entering his thirties and looking back at his younger self — a period of weddings, relationships, family, ambition and the uncomfortable realisation that nobody actually hands you a map for adulthood. That makes ‘Last Call’ particularly effective. It sounds carefree, but there's a little voice in the background asking whether you're doing enough.
Vacations have been building towards this point for years. The band have accumulated billions of streams, platinum-level success and sold-out international tours, but ‘Last Call’ doesn't sound like a victory lap. It sounds like a group still hungry enough to question what comes next.
And that hunger is exactly what makes the track work. It's catchy without being disposable, reflective without becoming miserable, and polished without sanding away the personality. The production gives the song a dreamy sheen while keeping the whole thing moving at a satisfying pace. Then it's over. And you immediately want to hear it again.
If Pursuit of Anything follows this trajectory, Vacations could have something rather special on their hands. The band's own description of the album talks about chasing happiness, constantly pursuing whatever comes next and rediscovering that feeling of excitement and self-discovery.
For more information: Vacations
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