Contra: Vampire Weekend (****1/2) <XL> Genre: Indie Rock, Afro Pop Indie superstars effortlessly sidestep the “sophomore slump” First of all: HAPPY NEW YEARS!  It’s the beginning of a new decade and I’m feeling good and excited about the many things that are to come! Man, I love working at a record store.  Not only do I get paid to do what I love, but I get discounts AND I get to hear new music before it’s released.  I got Contra, Vampire Weekend’s incredible second record, about a week before Christmas.  Since then I’ve been sitting on this work, letting it all sink in.  I’m so excited about this record that I can’t even conjure up words to describe it… Okay, well it’s not THAT good, but it’s certainly something. Vampire Weekend came out of nowhere back in 2008 with their debut.  It was a fresh sound.  Something that couldn’t really be compared to any other record that year.  There was no artsy gimmick covering the whole thing.  There was no over the top production to suffocate the songs.  Vampire Weekend was a collection of very well thought out pop songs, meticulously written and recorded to be as precise and as concise as possible. What resulted was a classic indie rock record that managed to get some modest mainstream attention in the US (I believe it’s become a gold record pretty recently). Of course, we all know what comes from a classic debut.  The overhyped, over-anticipated sophomore release, which almost always falls completely flat.  It does one of two things.  It overreaches and sounds too over the top or too different in style, as if the band wants to depart from whatever “gimmick” or “niche” that got them popular.  Or the record is way too safe and holds onto the “gimmick” or “niche” that got them popular for dear life.  But hey.  The guys from Vampire Weekend are smart lads.  I mean, they went to an IV League college for chrissakes!  I have no doubt in my mind that these dudes were thinking about the dreaded sophomore record over these two years. But, after all the nervous waiting, I’m happy to say that Vampire Weekend defied the odds. Contra is a record that never quite strays from what made Vampire Weekend cool, but it doesn’t sound like their debut at all.  Well, OK, there are aspects that can be correlated, but nothing that can be directly related.  The afro pop influences are still there, if maybe even more accented than before.  Ezra Koenig’s vocals are still unique and very thought out, every hook painstakingly detailed and precise.  But, things have changed.  You have some electronic beats scattered around, a bit more layered synthesizers, and a slight twinge of auto-tune on one song (which incidentally makes it the weakest track on Contra).  Things are different, but at the same time still feels like familiar Vampire Weekend. The first track, “Horchata,” is a song that any self respecting internet blogging hipster has already heard dozens of times (this also goes for “Cousins”).  It’s a song that I didn’t like at first, but has since grown on me a lot.  I love the lyrics.  They paint this really cool portrait, even if it is a portrait of a slightly smug upper middle class lad sipping horchata in the summer.  Also, you have to give Koenig some credit for being able to reference horchata, balaclava, aranciata, and mesada in the same song, and have it all make sense. From there you have some familiar Vampire Weekend territory (the bouncey afro pop of “White Sky” and “Diplomat’s Son,” the “A-Punk” inspired “Cousins” as well as the “Campus” inspired “Holiday”)  and some not so familiar territory.  This is where things get really good.  For one thing, I think the dynamics have shifted upwards from the last record.  There are more emotions here, like Ezra’s undying lament for this girl that he keeps singing about throughout the album.  ”Taxi Cab” slows things down to a light hearted feeling of nostalgia.  It feels warm and fuzzy but slightly sad at the same time, like a really good romantic comedy.  And then there’s the beautifully spacious closer, “I Think Ur A Contra,” which I think is one of the best songs on the whole record.  The best song, though, goes to “Giving Up The Gun.”  Think Vampire Weekend meets dance rock in the vein of Phoenix or possibly Santigold.  The beat is awesome and the chorus is catchy as hell. So there you have it.  Granted, I will say that it isn’t quite as good as the first record, but it gets very damn close.  I could do without the auto-tuned “California English Pt. 1,” which is something that just needs to go away forever and not come back (not the song, just the idea of auto-tune, I hate that shit, man…).  But the imperfections on Contra have really grown on me.  With Contra, I’m proud to say that Vampire Weekend have further cemented themselves in and aren’t going away for awhile.  They’ve succeeded in making a sophomore record that manages to not be overshadowed by the classic debut by being faithful to their original sound but still stepping out of the comfort zone.  And trust me, I can’t think of very many bands that have been able to do the same thing.  Keep an eye on this band for 2010, because maybe, just maybe, Vampire Weekend are going to get even bigger than before. Key Tracks: “White Sky,” “Giving Up The Gun,” “Cousins,” “Diplomat’s Sun,” “Taxi Cab” For Fans Of: Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, The Police

Contra: Vampire Weekend (****1/2) <XL>

Genre: Indie Rock, Afro Pop

Indie superstars effortlessly sidestep the “sophomore slump”

First of all: HAPPY NEW YEARS!  It’s the beginning of a new decade and I’m feeling good and excited about the many things that are to come!

Man, I love working at a record store.  Not only do I get paid to do what I love, but I get discounts AND I get to hear new music before it’s released.  I got Contra, Vampire Weekend’s incredible second record, about a week before Christmas.  Since then I’ve been sitting on this work, letting it all sink in.  I’m so excited about this record that I can’t even conjure up words to describe it… Okay, well it’s not THAT good, but it’s certainly something.

Vampire Weekend came out of nowhere back in 2008 with their debut.  It was a fresh sound.  Something that couldn’t really be compared to any other record that year.  There was no artsy gimmick covering the whole thing.  There was no over the top production to suffocate the songs.  Vampire Weekend was a collection of very well thought out pop songs, meticulously written and recorded to be as precise and as concise as possible. What resulted was a classic indie rock record that managed to get some modest mainstream attention in the US (I believe it’s become a gold record pretty recently).

Of course, we all know what comes from a classic debut.  The overhyped, over-anticipated sophomore release, which almost always falls completely flat.  It does one of two things.  It overreaches and sounds too over the top or too different in style, as if the band wants to depart from whatever “gimmick” or “niche” that got them popular.  Or the record is way too safe and holds onto the “gimmick” or “niche” that got them popular for dear life.  But hey.  The guys from Vampire Weekend are smart lads.  I mean, they went to an IV League college for chrissakes!  I have no doubt in my mind that these dudes were thinking about the dreaded sophomore record over these two years.

But, after all the nervous waiting, I’m happy to say that Vampire Weekend defied the odds.

Contra is a record that never quite strays from what made Vampire Weekend cool, but it doesn’t sound like their debut at all.  Well, OK, there are aspects that can be correlated, but nothing that can be directly related.  The afro pop influences are still there, if maybe even more accented than before.  Ezra Koenig’s vocals are still unique and very thought out, every hook painstakingly detailed and precise.  But, things have changed.  You have some electronic beats scattered around, a bit more layered synthesizers, and a slight twinge of auto-tune on one song (which incidentally makes it the weakest track on Contra).  Things are different, but at the same time still feels like familiar Vampire Weekend.

The first track, “Horchata,” is a song that any self respecting internet blogging hipster has already heard dozens of times (this also goes for “Cousins”).  It’s a song that I didn’t like at first, but has since grown on me a lot.  I love the lyrics.  They paint this really cool portrait, even if it is a portrait of a slightly smug upper middle class lad sipping horchata in the summer.  Also, you have to give Koenig some credit for being able to reference horchata, balaclava, aranciata, and mesada in the same song, and have it all make sense.

From there you have some familiar Vampire Weekend territory (the bouncey afro pop of “White Sky” and “Diplomat’s Son,” the “A-Punk” inspired “Cousins” as well as the “Campus” inspired “Holiday”)  and some not so familiar territory.  This is where things get really good.  For one thing, I think the dynamics have shifted upwards from the last record.  There are more emotions here, like Ezra’s undying lament for this girl that he keeps singing about throughout the album.  ”Taxi Cab” slows things down to a light hearted feeling of nostalgia.  It feels warm and fuzzy but slightly sad at the same time, like a really good romantic comedy.  And then there’s the beautifully spacious closer, “I Think Ur A Contra,” which I think is one of the best songs on the whole record.  The best song, though, goes to “Giving Up The Gun.”  Think Vampire Weekend meets dance rock in the vein of Phoenix or possibly Santigold.  The beat is awesome and the chorus is catchy as hell.

So there you have it.  Granted, I will say that it isn’t quite as good as the first record, but it gets very damn close.  I could do without the auto-tuned “California English Pt. 1,” which is something that just needs to go away forever and not come back (not the song, just the idea of auto-tune, I hate that shit, man…).  But the imperfections on Contra have really grown on me.  With Contra, I’m proud to say that Vampire Weekend have further cemented themselves in and aren’t going away for awhile.  They’ve succeeded in making a sophomore record that manages to not be overshadowed by the classic debut by being faithful to their original sound but still stepping out of the comfort zone.  And trust me, I can’t think of very many bands that have been able to do the same thing.  Keep an eye on this band for 2010, because maybe, just maybe, Vampire Weekend are going to get even bigger than before.

Key Tracks: “White Sky,” “Giving Up The Gun,” “Cousins,” “Diplomat’s Sun,” “Taxi Cab”

For Fans Of: Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, The Police