Review Summary: Should have been the clean-up hitter
A new Vampire Weekend album is always an exciting time. They have become such a stalwart in the music industry and in my personal canon. The departure of multi-instrumentalist and songwriting guru Rostam Batmanglij before Father of the Bride was a little cause for concern. I have a deep well of trust for Ezra Koenig, but I always get a little worried when a band loses a vital member. Father of the Bride was a surprisingly expansive and experimental record that was loaded with excellent music. However, as time went on a few years ago, I started getting the sense that these new flourishes and sojourns to new sounds were nearly a response to the doubt and concern fans like me were having concerning Rostam’s departure. While the songs were great, they started ringing a little hollow once you saw them as experimental for experimentation’s sake. While that criticism is inherently unfair, it’s where I ended up and that record is probably my least favorite of theirs (not saying much, they’re all excellent). Only God Was Above Us, in nearly every way, feels like the logical follow-up to Modern Vampires of the City. Much like The National’s inexplicable I Am Easy To Find, it’s simpler now to look at Father of the Bride as an odd detour that is easier to enjoy once context is applied. This new Vampire record is outstanding.
It has the comfort, swag, and authenticity right back to where it needs to be for a Vampire Weekend album. These songs ooze with melody, clever lyrics, and wild instrumentation. This album sounds like it was hard to make. There are time signature changes that make you whip your head around in nearly every song. These songs don’t bounce and rattle like their first couple of albums as it shares more aesthetics with Modern Vampires. But where that album would sometimes stall in a waltz or a down-tempo ballad, this album has an organic living quality. If you love Vampire Weekend, you’ll love this. If you don’t care for them, it won’t do much to change your mind. It’s a fabulous record from a fabulous band, and I’m very pleased we’re a bit back on track, even if we never really got off it.
