Review Summary: Production occasionally takes over, but, for the most part, Vampire Weekend just write some pretty great songs. Calm down.
Call it the cultured causality: I'd
like to talk about the newest display of blogosphere obsession, Vampire Weekend's
Contra, without having first to refer to the band's upper-class background (all four members graduated from Columbia; they frequently talk about, ahem, "privileged" topics in their songs; they wear polos and Oxfords in bright daylight), but, alas, as a result of blog hype, backlash, backlash-to-the-backlash and all the rest of the necessary steps for a truly internet-fostered band, Vampire Weekend's well-bred origins have become inextricably associated with their music.
In terms of the music itself,
Contra is mostly what you'd expect, considering their debut: in comparison to the "stripped-down" aesthetic of many modern indie bands, the album has a considerable focus on production, injecting its songs with string arrangements, bouncy African rhythms, and bubbly synths. Part of what endeared the band's debut to so many was the visibility of their influences, and this also proves true on
Contra. "Horchata", the endearing opener, mixes in Afro-pop drumming, classical string arrangements, and the band's approximation of tropical music via marimba (its lyrics also name-drop, in order, "Horchata", "balaclava", "Aranciata", and "Masada"). Best of all, though, it has a catchy tune to back up its admittedly overblown production, and it doesn't sound like much else out there.
Not all of it is so exotic, though: some tracks appropriate modern dance music trends, including "California English", which even goes as far to auto-tune frontman Ezra Koenig's already malleable voice. This kind of openness to different musical inclinations, "hip" or not, gives Vampire Weekend their mass appeal, making them the rare kind of indie band that breaks through to the mainstream without losing any of their "coolness".
If there's one complaint that can be issued towards
Contra, it's that sometimes the production has a tendency to overshadow the tunes themselves, leading some listeners to come to the conclusion that Vampire Weekend are the kind of bizarrely overhyped indie band that the various hype sources of the internet (Pitchfork, various blogs, file-sharing sites) bring into fruition every so often. However, for the most part,
Contra is an extremely enjoyable release, brushing off criticism in the best way possible: by writing a bunch of great songs. America seems to agree with me: shortly after its release, the album hit the top of the charts.
