Yam Yam
No Vacation originated in San Francisco in 2015, when Sab Mai started the band during her freshman year at the University of San Francisco. She found a co-writer in her very first class, and the two began writing songs together. Nat Lee, Marisa Saunders, and Harrison Spencer rounded out the early lineup soon after. The band self-released its debut EP Amo XO in 2015 and called its early sound “Post-Tropical Sad Core.” By 2017, the group had relocated to New York and built “Yam Yam” from a moody, mid-tempo riff the members were jamming on.
“Yam Yam” appeared on Intermission, a five-song EP that Topshelf Records released on November 17, 2017. Mai has said the song is about loving someone and not wanting to let go, while also accepting whatever happens. The track has gone on to rack up more than 90 million streams on Spotify, far outpacing the rest of the band’s catalog.
“I don’t think it’s possible for No Vacation to create and release a ‘bad’ song.”
No Vacation took an extended hiatus in the years that followed, and the members eventually moved back to the Bay Area. Mai has said everyone in the band is still working on music, just at a slower pace, alongside longtime bandmates Harrison Spencer and Nat Lee.
“Yam Yam” never charted on a major chart, but it became No Vacation’s most-streamed song by a wide margin, turning up on indie playlists years after the EP’s release. The bittersweet hook that started as an idle riff is still what most listeners know the band for today.