On the heels of their 2017 song “Vacation” going viral on TikTok, courtesy of the Vacation Challenge, Dirty Heads give the song a lift with a collaborative version featuring Train. “We are so impressed with how fans, new and old, have taken this song and made it their own on social media,” the band says in a joint press statement.
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“Thank you to Pat Monahan for hopping on this new version. It is a gift to everyone who has made us smile with their ‘Vacation Challenge’ videos over the past year,” they continue. “We can’t wait to get back into that spirit on the road later this summer. It’s time to celebrate with one another again.”
A long-time Dirty Heads fan, Train frontman Pat Monahan shares his excitement, “My whole family has loved this song since it came out. Getting a chance to sing on it was really cool for all of us, and I think it made me a much cooler human.”
Earlier this year, Dirty Heads’ frontman Jared Watson reflected on the song’s viral success. “It’s such a crazy time to be a musician, and a lot of people hate on social media and streaming and things like that. I think most people are getting used to it now, but I love it. I really love the fact that it’s giving all the power back to the fans and like giving the power back to the people. Not even giving it back to them! Just giving it to them finally,” he said. “It’s giving opportunities for musicians to blow up just because you write good music and somebody found it, and it became popular because it was a good song. Like it’s not up to program directors anymore. It’s not up to labels dumping a bunch of money into one song from one artist and like controlling the industry, forcing you to do radio shows, and forcing you to do this and that or they won’t play your song.”
The brand new visual, also released Friday (May 28), highlights the magic and connection of live concerts and fan interaction. Performance footage is pieced together with various TikTok clips (edited by Jaclyn Cataldi) to further give it a communal, celebratory tone.
“Vacation” originally appears on the Dirty Heads’ 2017 studio record, Swim Team. This summer, the group releases The Very Best of Dirty Heads, a compilation, on July 16, in time for a co-headlining summer tour with Sublime. Tour dates and tickets here.
