Vampire Weekend’s ‘Contra’ Review
January 14, 2010 • By Amber Logsdon,
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The past few years have treated Vampire Weekend well. Since their 2008 self-titled debut, the New York City quartet gained attention for their fresh style. Making an unlikely, yet enjoyable blend of Afro Pop and New Wave, they have truly made a name for themselves in the music industry. Last year, for instance, computer company Hewlett-Packard picked up one of their songs for use in a printer commercial. Oh, yeah. They’ve hit it big. Kind of.
When they announced plans to release a second album, “Contra,” excitement and skepticism sprung up in the music community. Their sound is almost inimitable, which brought up some questions on whether or not they could actually keep their fun, quirky spirit going for another record. Last weekend, front man Ezra Koenig was on Sirius XM radio discussing “Contra.” He mentioned that some of the songs on the record had been in development since 2007. So at least there would be some consistency between the two.
At first listen, “Contra,” a reference to the ’80 s video game by the same name, is somewhat confusing. So was the second listen. And the third. After the fourth, it finally made some sense.
The album’s opening track, “Horchata” sounds like an extended version of the Rugrats theme song, with the addition of lyrics and stringed instrumentation. This is not to say the song isn’t good, which it is. It’s Vampire Weekend to the core. The message of reminiscing upon the past is clear. Also, something must be said about Koenig’s creative rhyming of ‘horchata’ and ‘balaclava’ in the opening lines. It’s so absurd, it works.
What throws off the beginning of the record, though, is the mess that is “California English”. The best way to describe Koenig’s vocals in this track is to compare him to a baby just learning how to speak. The lyrics are unintelligible in every sense of the word. It sounds like Lil’ Wayne and his auto-tune attacked Vampire Weekend in the worst way possible. Even the instruments sound off. Nothing about this song truly sits well on the ears.
One of the standout tracks on the album has to be the current single, “Cousins”. Starting from the very beginning, the Arctic Monkeys-like energy travels from the speakers into the listener’s quickly tapping toes. It makes for a great song to just let everything go and dance wildly. It’s hard to not be impressed by drummer Chris Tomson’s work on the song, being able to keep up with the extremely rapid pace of the song. Also, the bass is refreshing, to say the least. For an instrument that usually isn’t given that much of a spotlight, bassist Chris Baio finds its perfect niche.
Close to the end of the album, though, is the gem “Giving Up the Gun”. Though it sounds vaguely like something expected from The Killers, it comes together well. It has just the perfect amount of up tempo rhythm to make it a future hit. Here, the imagery Vampire Weekend presents is exceptionally vivid, and their metaphors brilliant. In the third verse, for example, Koenig sings, “When I was 17/ I had wrists like steel/ and I felt complete/ and now my body fades/ behind a brass charade.” With the glockenspiel acting as the icing on the cake, the song is a perfect example of why Vampire Weekend gained popularity in the first place.
The closing song, “I Think Ur a Contra,” doesn’t do too good of a job tying up the album. There’s something unsettling about the entire song. The melody alone is weird, and Koenig’s odd mixture of wailing and crooning doesn’t mesh well with the repetitious chorus. For an added layer of instruments, a piano plays the chorus’ melody. At the end, though, is where they leave the listener hanging. Amid lyrics that are, in themselves, a contradiction (“You’re not a contra/ you wanted rock’n’roll/ complete control/ well, I don’t know”), random shakers and bongos were thrown in, perhaps to squeeze in some last afro-quirkiness.
All in all, every album has its hits and misses and “Contra” is no exception. When Vampire Weekend messes up, they mess up hard and unapologetically. When they excel, they excel brilliantly. It averages out. Though it takes some getting used to, “Contra” is an album that definitely solidifies Vampire Weekend’s place in music.
Contact Amber Logsdon at logsdoan@jmu.edu
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