Just exactly what good vibes are, nobody can accurately define. No scientist. No sociologist. No doctor. Nevertheless, we know them right at the moment we feel them. One imagines scientists would call these serotonin, dopamine, or endorphins – chemicals that give us good feelings. Granted, your cannabis shop in town (if you live in a state where such establishments are now legal) might attempt to convince you that good vibes can, in fact, be smoked or ingested somehow. For the time being, though, we’ll just leave that debate as an open topic. Jesse Patrick and Tyler Daniels, known professionally as Patrick & Daniels, mix together organic instrumentation with tight vocal harmonies to create good vibes of the sonic variety on their EP Good Vibes. Without overthinking it, you’ll likely feel some of these aforementioned good vibes after listening to this enjoyable release.
There’s plenty of sonic variety found on this project. While the title track swings to a Latin-ish, jazz-ish acoustic guitar groove, and even incorporates a rapped part, another titled “Seasons” is folk-ish, and dare we say it, country-ish? On “Working Man’s Blues” (No, not that Merle Haggard song), the duo go full country. It’s an upbeat track featuring plenty of tasty picking. Is it possible for musicians to love rap music as much as down-home country? This recorded juxtaposition answers that question undeniably affirmatively.
One song named “I’m Allowed To Dream” reaches back to classic soul feelings. No matter the sonic templates, though, this and everything on the project is driven by close vocal harmonies. These two just sound so good when singing together. One imagines that, if they only had one acoustic guitar underpinning their two voices, they’d still sound good and complete. This one even includes whistling on it, the way Otis Redding famously whistled during “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay,” his swan song hit.
“New Years” is one of the release’s most hopeful songs. Lyrically, it speaks of how New Year’s Day often instills hope. Even though it’s a day, just like any other day, it’s still seen as a chance to start fresh, new. We pop the cork on some champagne and make a wish for better days. There’s no guarantee future days will, in fact, be better, but this holiday gives us a chance to make a big wish for brighter days. The track includes a handclapping, nearly church-y singing of the song toward its end. With “Someday,” the duo performs one of the project’s quietest tracks. It’s a song about how much we many times really need a certain lover in our life. It also features a female accompanying vocal, which – with its male/female dynamic – distinguishes it from the others on the album.
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Good Vibes is good singing and good songs. This is not a complicated formula. It’s not like, say, the triangle offense in basketball, which the Bulls perfected and won multiple NBA championships by applying it. No, this is a vocal showcase where the singers have smart words to sing together. Some of the best things in life are also its simplest ones. This release is one of these.
-Dan MacIntosh
