Well, it took a long time, but we seem to be through the worst of ’80s nostalgia, which means we can finally get to the good stuff. (To wit: Have you seen Everybody Wants Some!! yet? You should.) Nowhere is this more evident than with “Runaway,” the great new track from the New York-based group Vacances (pronounced ”Vacancies”). Unlike the up-with-people ’80s retro sounds infecting much of the mainstream music of today, the band aims straight for the dark, cocaine-fueled heart of the era’s most compelling electronic pop. It’s a world of late nights with Depeche Mode, of crackling college radio stations playing New Order, and the song finds the beating heart of that scowling-on-the-inside aesthetic. It’s like the aural equivalent of seeing someone smiling on the dance floor, only to realize they’re bleeding from their eyes.
The band is releasing an EP in July, and will be hitting the road in support of it soon. If you’re on the East Coast, check out the live version of this Me Decade time warp starting in late June.