CD Review: Preppy vampires sink fangs into Afropop

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February 2, 2010 • written by Macy Linton  
Filed under Reviews

Vampire Weekend, straight out of Upper West Side Manhattan with Ivy League patches still on their sleeves, released their eponymous debut to rave reviews almost exactly two years ago.

The album was probably one of, if not the biggest surprise to please music listeners in 2008–a sensational fusion of chamber and African popular music (otherwise known as the rich kid’s answer to reggae) that actually sounded good, with lyrics that, for example, encompassed grammar and ex-girlfriends and Li’l Jon and Tibetan Buddhist Lamas in one three minute song.

Fans waited with bated breath for their next album, and Vampire Weekend didn’t disappoint. The transition from their debut album to “Contra” is seamless, the easy appeal seemingly effortless. In only their early twenties, an age known for drop-of-the-hat, 180-degree changes, the band has proven that it has an image, several college degrees, and a clear and concise sense of musical direction.

With “Contra,” Vampire Weekend does nothing if not show off the diversity of their music. Melodies range from the soothing tone of “Taxi Cab” to the upbeat frantic pace of first single “Cousins,” while lyrics sound as if they were plucked from an SAT booklet and cross-referenced with Webster’s dictionary of nonsensical words and are, at times, amusing (In “Horchata”, lead singer Ezra Koenig starts out singing “In December drinking horchata/ I’d look psychotic in a balaclava.”) and at others bemusing (“I can’t forget just how bad it gets/ When I’m counting on my teeth.”).

Vampire Weekend appeals to college kids and soon-to-be college kids ready for an educational awakening and the preppy, intellectual atmosphere of a university; and with that fan base comes a slight degree of, well, pretentiousness.

For the most part, however, the posturing sounds minimal and remains likeable, and is offset by a dash of healthy college-brand anger throughout most of the album (“California English”: “Contra Costa, Contra Mundum, contradict what I say/ Living like the French Connection, but we’ll die in LA”).

Of course, I could just be saying that because I am a soon-to-be college kid ready for an educational awakening and so am immune to their affectations.

For a band with the word “vampire” in its name, Vampire Weekend leaves the listener feeling surprisingly cheerful. Their bundle of contradictions is absurd, but far from subtracting from their charm, their variety is what makes them interesting. “Contra” is like champagne at a carnival–unexpected, but a pleasant surprise.