Equal Vision Records and NJ/NYC-based indie-rock band The Vaughns are excited to present “Day by Day,” the second single to be lifted from the Friday, September 29 release of Egg Everything, the band’s forthcoming studio album produced by Joe Reinhart of Hop Along (pre-save/pre-order HERE). Written about Ryan Kenter of The Vaughns’ mother-in-law who battled cancer for two years and passed away just three weeks shy of Ryan and his wife’s wedding, “Day by Day” is an honest reflection on grief and the act of supporting someone during one of the most difficult periods of their life. “There was not a day that my wife could be happy while feeling helpless to make her mom better,” Kenter recalls. “I spent each one of those days looking for any little thing that I could do to bring them just a single fleeting moment of happiness. The sad truth is that there is nothing that anyone can do besides being there.”
Anna Lies of The Vaughns adds, “As a friend, I just wanted to help Ryan tell this story as best as we could. It’s a tough one to listen to on repeat, but we definitely captured the meaning and feeling. This one is special and we really caught some magic on it.” Watch the music video for “Day by Day” HERE.
Additionally, The Vaughns have announced a number of fall and winter dates in support of Egg Everything. Making appearances in September along with Teenage Halloween during October and with Born Without Bones throughout December, The Vaughns will be hitting markets such as Lake Como, NJ on October 21, New York, NY on December 8, Washington, DC on December 18, Philadelphia, PA on December 12 and more. Tickets for all shows are on sale now and a full listing of dates can be found below.
Egg Everything presents itself as The Vaughns’ take on the sampler and an homage to record label mixtape CDs handed out at festivals in the early 2010s — the sharing of a variety of sounds and genres that influenced the band in the form of one release. Containing elements of both the dreamy indie-pop and the effortlessly cool surf-rock/power-pop hybrid they made their own on previous releases, Egg Everything is a record that’s both a continuation of their past and a brand new beginning, one which builds off the legacy they’ve already asserted for themselves while simultaneously marking The Vaughns as one of the most exciting, interesting and original indie-pop bands around today. This is them in their purest, most complete form, with all the toppings.
The concept of a one band sampler may seem like an ambitious idea, but one listen to Egg Everything’s twelve tracks — ten actual songs and two brief, joyous interludes — and it doesn’t seem crazy at all. Ambitious, maybe, but not crazy. Besides, The Vaughns have executed it to perfection. The follow-up album to their debut, self-released full-length, F.O.M.O., this record was engineered and produced by Hop Along’s Joe Reinhart, who was also at the helm for the band’s 2021 EP (and debut Equal Vision release), rom-coms + take-out. The idea with this set of songs was to bake in the band’s history while also simultaneously experimenting and expanding with hitherto untried ingredients.
The result is a record that runs the gamut of genre — whether that’s the smooth, wistful alt-pop of opener “Dimes,” the gently up-tempo rock’n’roll bounce of “Turn Around” or the jittery post-punk swagger of “Gizzards.” Elsewhere, the gentle lilt of “Bop Star” manages to turn melancholy into an inspiring indie rock anthem, the dreamy jangle of “Mancala” is a rumination on a lost loved one, that implores during the song’s intensely quiet breakdown, ‘we were happy crying together in this God-awful time’ before the song swells into a gorgeous, string-laden crescendo. Yet despite the disparate sounds, it works together as one cohesive whole, and on two distinct levels. For a start, it keeps you guessing, interested, excited — like those old label samplers used to — from track to track, start to finish. Not many albums can say that these days. Two, it’s all underpinned by the tangible intimacy that’s at the heart of these songs.
A wonderful songwriting experiment that embodied the title’s other meaning, Anna Lies and Ryan Kenter — with invaluable contributions from lead guitarist Jordan Smith and bassist Brian Hughes — really did throw everything they had into these songs, both musically and emotionally. “We put more of ourselves into this album than anything we’ve done in the past,” says Kenter. “We learned a lot and we grew a lot, and hopefully that shows.” “We went into this with a real ‘Oh, fuck-it’ energy,” adds Lies. “We wanted to make something we liked, because who knows what to expect of anything anymore?”
The Vaughns will be making the following appearances in 2023. Dates below with more to be added soon.
SEPTEMBER
01 – Asbury Park, NJ – Fridays on the Promenade
15 – Medford, NJ – Medford Oktoberfest
22 – Jersey City, NJ – Arthouse (w/ Tea Eater)
OCTOBER
21 – Lake Como, NJ – Salty’s Beach Bar *
DECEMBER
07 – Somerville, MA – Crystal Ballroom ^
08 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge ^
09 – East Haven, CT – The Beeracks ^
10 – Washington, DC – Comet Ping Pong ^
11 – Richmond, VA – The Camel ^
12 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s ^
* – with Teenage Halloween
^ – with Born Without Bones