Vampire Weekend - Contra

Genre indie-rock Publisher XL Recordings

Vampire Weekend’s career is a lot like the beginning of a successful movie franchise. There’s the blockbuster first film, full of action packed scenes and memorable moments, things that stick with you over time. Their self-titled debut record contains these hallmarks  - “Oxford Comma,” “One (Blake’s Got a New Face)”, and of course “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” are songs that blanketed 2008.  At the time, the breezy, clean guitars and Ezra Koenig’s falsetto was not so much new as it was refreshing to hear. While their indie rock brethren were lost in a haze of lo-fi guitars and drums, they went the opposite direction, and it worked.

The most common question with every burgeoning movie series is “Can the second really be as good as the first?” The answer, more often than not, is no. This is the case with Contra, Vampire Weekend’s sophomore album. That doesn’t, however, necessarily mean it’s a bad thing. Sequels often try to elaborate on their original success, and Vampire Weekend make that abundantly clear this time around.

The first noticeable difference comes with “White Sky,” a gentle pop tune with a light, programmed intro track punctuated by Koenig’s  alternating ooh’s and ah’s. It’s hardly uptempo, as that sort of heavy lifting is left to “Holiday,” which directly follows it. “If I wait for a holiday/would it stop my fears?” the singer asks. It’s a rather introspective line from the guy who once asked “Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?” Both songs are passable, but don’t really set themselves apart from the pack. 

The subtle changes are most apparent midway through the record. Even a band who so mercilessly charts their own course can’t escape modern trends. The auto tuned vocals of “California English” combined with an anxious rhythm section and pliant strings, surprisingly works. The distant background vocals give the feeling that this song could pass as a b-side to a mid 80‘s Paul Simon record.

“Run,” one of the album’s best tracks, is characterized by a persistent synthesized stomp. The trebly guitar builds before breaking into a bright, brassy chorus. Koenig’s ‘hoo-hoo’s match the ping pong of synthesizers and creates a totally enthralling dance track. The following track, “Cousins,” is ska, Vampire Weekend style. Then there’s the nascent thump of “Giving Up The Gun” that is begging to be remixed.

There’s one dramatic departure, the album’s final track, “I Think UR A Contra”. It’s an atmospheric piece characterized with dainty, dancing piano, Graceland-era guitars, and Koenig’s voice gently resting on top of the layers of instrumentation. “Never pick sides/never pick between two,” he says. 

A line like that is the cliffhanger at the end of the second movie of the trilogy. You’ll have to wait a few years to see how it all turns out.