Contra by Vampire Weekend
In 2008 Vampire Weekend burst onto the scene with their Caribbean-toned indie pop sound and their upper-crust, hip fashion sense. They gained tons and tons of fans, their album was a huge success, and they played their fair share of big festivals and TV shows. That sounds like a huge success to me for an indie band. However, the question has never been are the good? Do they deserve their success? It has been whether or not they could evolve their unique sound into finer, more sophisticated albums. Well, their sophomore album, Contra, is almost out, and the judgements will come fast and furious.
The album starts with "Horchata", which is the closest thing to a song of their first album. However, it seems a little more layered than the first album, but lyrically it fits in perfectly. Next comes the ethereal "White Sky". It is an excellent song with some classic Ezra Koenig yelping. After a so-so "Holiday" comes the fanatical "California English" that is quite busy, and almost has an Animal Collective meets T-Pain feel. It doesn't really set a tone for the rest of the album, but it does fit with the album. Later in the album the songs "Run" and "Taxi Cab" use synths, pedals, and other new forms of sounds to mix in with Vampire Weekend's staple of strings and guitar picking. "Run" and "Taxi Cab" are solid songs that move the album along efficiently.
"Cousins" is up next. It was the first single and video off the album and it is a rapid blitzkrieg of guitars and drums. It is the loudest song on a quite soft album, but it is definitely fun to listen to. The next song on the album, "Giving Up The Gun", is really the most surprising song, and in my humble opinion, the best track on Contra. It's fast-paced, without the feeling of island music, and in it they even bust out a xylophone. The album starts to finish with the floating "Diplomat's Son" which samples M.I.A.'s Hussel. It's the longest song on this album or Vampire Weekend, but it is worth it in my opinion. It's got great layers and its faithful to the Vampire Weekend sound without being too much of the first album. The finale on Contra is "I Think Ur a Contra" which in all reality is a beautiful song, but struggles to really grab a hold on to the end of the album with its lyrics. They switch from talking about a fleeting love to really committing to love. Which is really a new concept to Vampire Weekend. It's different from the rest of their stuff, but it is a successful song.
Vampire Weekend's Contra excited me, but not by the music or lyrics. It was because my biggest fear about Vampire Weekend is that they would just extend themselves from their debut album, but they really advanced themselves in this album. It didn't always work, but they tried, and that works for me. Their third album will be important to see if they can recreate themselves, but still create a very good album. Contra is a good album, but it is missing something that I can't quite put my finger on. I like it a lot but I need more.
Rating = 7.9
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