Vampire Weekend - Contra (1/12/10)

Looking forward to it. I would really love the new single but the way "horchata" is pronounced makes me cringe a little (I know this is a silly thing to complain about; I'm not bothered by the Clash's Spanish Bombs, so I'm just being picky).

I saw them live last month or so. If you liked Horchata, prepare yourself, as it goes along the same way. I loved the new songs.

That's quite an earworm.

Yeah, I caught myself humming it last night. I'm probably going to end up getting the album and loving it despite inevitable backlash.

And if you think Horchata is catchy, wait till you hear White Sky. I'm pretty sure you can find a video of it on youtube.

It's a good song. And yeah, I'm shutting up about hyping Contra, because I want to hear it again before doing so, but I really really want to.

Cousins ain't even the best song on it. I'm surprised they didn't go with Horchata or White Sky as the first single.

EDIT: Regarding Contra, I'm eager the hear reactions about California English. It's a WTF track, but it's a great one. And considering a single, I'm expecting White Sky and Run to be the next ones.

Love Cousins and Horchata, it's always bizarre seeing videos for them though because I keep forgetting theirs only four of them. They've got such a a big, multifaceted, sound that's a bizarre just seeing the four of them in a video.Can't wait to see these guys next yet, and really can't wait for that album. I hoped that they'd go onto great things, because a lot of people assumed that their first album was essentially it for them, and they seem to have really refined the sound of the songs I loved off their first album (M79, Wallcott, Kids Don't Stand A Chance)

Full album streaming thanks to KCRW.

Told you!

I really like it. A bit less catchy, more deep.

California English is as fucked up as the first time I heard it, but it's the subtle songs, like Diplomat’s Son, Taxi Cab or I Think Ur A Contra that surprised me, as I didn't heard it before and it goes somewhere VW ever went before.

Run and White Sky are the next singles. And Horchata is still sublime.

Oh dear. I'm an unabashed fan of the band's first album, and one of the last one remaining in my group of friends due to the undeserved backlash. But this has really caught me. As already mentioned the fantastic step forward for the band with the depth in arranging and their instrumentation takes what I loved about the first album and just adds to it. Next week this goes on my iPod and I guarantee it won't stop playing for quite some time.

LOVE THIS! I fought against liking the first album because of my allegiance to NYU (boo Columbia), but this song is so much fun.

Great album. Not sure it's better than their debut, but it definitely should contradict anyone who thought they were a one trick pony and didn't have any staying power. Whether you love 'em or hate 'em, these guys are sticking around. Talented band, really catchy pop.

I would say that so far I've found myself more attracted to Contra quicker than I did Vampire Weekend's debut. But I also fought against giving the debut a fair shot for a long time. I just like how everything about Contra feels bigger and bolder than the first time around.

I'm totally in love with this album. I like it much better than the first. Not that I dislike their debut, but I really dig the more upbeat, poppier sounds of this album. "Diplomat's Son" has replaced "White Sky" as my favorite song on the album. It makes me feel like I'm back in Jamaica sipping fruity drinks on the beach and lazing away the day.

Any backlash against these guys is dumb. I don't understand it. They make incredibly well crafted, fun, catchy pop tunes and have their own sound. This album shows they aren't afraid to get even a little crazier than they already were, and it's great. It MAY be better than the debut, but I haven't decided yet. "Giving Up the Gun" is probably my favorite track off the album after maybe a dozen listens.

That Pitchfork review is dead-on in that I basically can't stand this band and I fucking HATE Horchata.

Horchata is pure bliss.

'kay

A lot of people turned against them when they performed on SNL and people say what they looked like for the first time. Them wearing sweaters and being very 'dweeby' looking seemed to turn a lot of people off. There does seem to be a general undercurrent of 'middle class people can't possibly make good music' to the reaction to them.

The more I listen to the album the better it gets, such a fantastic rich sound.

I forget which review I was reading (I think it may have been Pitchforks) but it mentioned how they would probably be a lot more popular if the perception was that the people in his songs were poor instead of wealthy. Apparently the photo on the cover was picked to quote Ezra Koenig, "some people get very mad when they see a white blond girl in a Polo shirt."

Agreed that "Giving Up the Gun" is my favorite track on the album right now.

I think you're right in that there's definitely an element of, what would it be, reverse classism?, in the backlash. I just think that's completely stupid. Are they trying to pretend they're tortured souls who've led lives of misery to make Victor Hugo blush?

There's a good article in Rolling Stone (I know, I know - bear with me) this week in which Vampire Weekend's relationship to east coast wealth is likened to that of F. Scott Fitzgerald's. I thought it an apt and interesting comparison, in that they are both interested observers of this culture of money and privilege, celebratory and critical at the same time. That being said, I haven't heard the album yet, though I thought their performance of "Cousins" on Letterman was great.

It's not even just wealth. I remember one of our highbrow review shows over here completely going to town on Neon Bible by the Arcade Fire because Win Butler and his brother went to private school. Apparently if you want to be a musician you have to be poor, desperate and educated in state schools (bonus points if you drop out early).

But, in the United States, going to a private school often does imply wealth, unless we're talking about religious education. And, even still, it certainly costs more than a public education.

Yeah I phrased that like a retard. I was going for a status sort of thing, because of course private schools require wealth.

Eh, sorry. Not trying to piss on your enthusiasm. I just wanted to chime in and say I am one of those detractors they're talking about. I don't get the love. I find them to be a fairly shallow pop band. The hooks are there but often too twee for my tastes and the songwriting only occasionally hits the quality of someone like Paul Simon. To put it metaphorically, its all sugar, no salt; all sweet, no sour. As far as the playing goes, it's technically very good but often lacking in taste. Never been one much impressed by that combination.

What really puzzles me about this band is how much love they get. It's as if yacht rock without any edge replaced all this other really great pop music overnight. I mean, Steely Dan at least has some really darkness to their lyrics. Now, I'm not saying that Vampire Weekend needs to fake that, but for a band to have such little worldliness to their "world music" sound, and for so many people to find that intriguing does not compute. Their look just encapsulates everything about their music that I don't like (FUBU music for the Hamptons, WASPy crowd).

Yeah, because there a magical spell that erases any musical credibility someone has some sort of education.

Can't quote Shakespeare? YOURRE A FUCKING MUSIKAL GENEIUS!!!!!!

Music is music.

I don't get people who need "dark" lyrics. I'll settle for clever lyrics and some nice wordplay, which you get here in abundance.

A lot of the lyrics seem to be about the VW backlash. If you choose to buy all natural tooth paste, what does that say about the type of person you are? You're still creating an image for people to see. Would you really be a different person if you purchased Crest? Or if you like punk rock and admit to like Vampire Weekend, does that effect your image? Since so many people react to the bands image, it's smart that they're addressing it here in a (somewhat) subversive way.

Rectify that stat!

You're missing my larger point. I don't even get into rock lyrics all that much to begin with. The lyrics of Steely Dan (which are not always dark but often witty, dryly funny, sarcastic, and yes, also occasionally about seedy, dark things) are just one example of how a band with highly polished, meticulously performed and arranged recordings manages to make their music actually interesting.

Zooey makes an interesting comparison to Fitzgerald. Does Vampire Weekend really try to subvert, critique (or at the very least add balance to) anything about their style or sound (cuz I don't really hear it if they do), or is it all what you see is what you get? Not that there's anything wrong with that per se, I just don't think its that interesting.

Yes, they do. And if you're not hearing it, you might want to pay attention to the lyrics. It's not only in there, it's in the music they reference, the genre they ape depending on the song.

I think the Fitzgerald comparison is pretty neat too. But while I think Fitzgerald was a lot harsher on the sort of East Coast elite lifestyle of the 1920's, it's not as if Vampire Weekend is singing songs the great hangover that comes with every party, or how when the smoke clears everyone that comes to your parties won't be coming to your funeral, nor are they describing nothing but wild times with bootleggers and cheating spouses. Everyone says write what you know. Would people prefer these guys if they were writing purposefully grittier subject matter that they know nothing about?

Plus, they're a lot more popular than Fitzgerald ever was while he was alive, so they face a certain critical backlash that comes from just being popular. You have to admit that certain people dislike something simply because other people like it. It's why there will never be another Beatles phenomenon.

If The Great Gatspy was a critical smash and everyone clucked their tongues at Fitzgerald for having his cake and eating it too, wouldn't that be somewhat hypocritical. "You're well off so how dare you observe how your people behaves." Who better to point it out?

Just came here to thank you all the praise for VW spread around several threads. I love their stuff.

Maybe I've just heard the wrong tracks but VW have always struck me as a band for people who've never heard the Arctic Monkeys.

REALLY?

HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH

REALLY?

HAH!

Jesus, what fucking rock have you come out from under where Vampire Weekend and Arctic Monekys have ANY phonic relation. Musically they're divergent, their influences are worlds apart, and tonally the two groups are massively different. I mean, seriously?

Like I said, maybe I've heard the wrong tracks - but thanks so much for being so understanding Spike.

Rule Brittania and all that mate.

I just countered a snobby, dismissive, statement with another snobby, dismissive, statement.

One thoroughly qualified and certainly not meant as either snobby or dismissive - but extrapolate away. I guess I've been lucky at how reasonable you've been with me of late - maybe I was due or something.

What the fuck is this? Battle of the Cunts?

And the Arctic Monkeys sucks.

Alright, to get back on topic and to prove I was in no way trying to be a cunt (thanks for that Martin), let me ask - where do people recommend a neophyte begin in understanding the wonders of Vampire Weekend?

Okay,

Exhibit A

The Arctic Moneys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm69M3jtZl4

Influenced by the Jam and the angry British punk bands of the late 70s like Crass. Low-Fi, intense, spikey sounding, talking about real people, earthy.

Exhibit B

Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_i1xk07o4g

Influenced by Graceland era Paul Simon and possibly Peter Gabriel era Genesis, formalised, layered and stylised. Sing about things in a metaphorical sense.

I even did you a favour and picked two songs which are nice and similar. Aside from a similar vocal inflection I do not see the similarities at all.

Light, simple music in the vein of Simon and Garfunkel. You either like it or not. But it's not even close to the Arctic Monkey.