Not a site to make a regular occasion of showing bare, male midriff on our home page, Daytrotter makes no excuses for championing The Vacation’s self-titled debut album, just out on American. This Los Angeles band gives you an opportunity to love Jet again because—now face it—for three months in that year not so long ago, all you wanted to sing was “you don’t need money with a face like that do you honey” and “cold hard bitch, you’re just a kiss on the lips,” while going along with the garage rock revival talk that provided another gravy train for those in black leather jackets to ride. There’s always a place for rock and roll that shoots from the hip, expouses on girls and booze in a way that can impair your ability to drive a moving vehicle just by listening to it. You get a sense that this dirty Rick Rubin (where does he find the time to hang out with The Dixie Chicks, Neil Diamond and The Vacation?) endorsed band has failed a lot of sobriety tests and that’s who we’re going to listen to when the night’s getting late and the chest’s feeling warm with bravery. Daytrotter will be giving away five copies of The Vacation’s new CD, some autographed posters and T-shirts to the best answers to this here essay question: “What was the night leading up to your first sobriety test like and how did it conclude?” All answers must be sent to info@daytrotter.com and received by May 31st.

Essay Contest #3 Winners