Contra Reviewed
January 16th 2010 09:46
Contra - the second album of Vampire Weekend, is much more experimental than their self titled debut album. The university educated New Yorkers, who describe their style in their debut as 'Upper West Side Sowetto', produce a more diverse sound, but it oozes with just as much enthusiasm and originality as 'Vampire Weekend' did.
With Kanye style auto-tune (done with more class than Kanye) in 'California English', and use of M.I.A's 'Hussel' in 'Diplomat's Song', complete with finger tapping rhythms (check out second single 'Cousins') and a big dollop of Reggae (Diplomat's Son'), Vampire Weekend's Contra is layered, experimental music. Serious but fun, the album, and all of Vampire Weekend's music, transports you to a Pacific island.
Preptastic: Vampire Weekend
'Contra' uses the same finger tapping tunes that make you sit up and take notice that 'Vampire Weekend' did, but the diversity of the album means that from a personal perspective, I found fewer standout songs than I did in the previous album, where 5 songs ('Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa', 'A-Punk', 'Campus', 'The Kids Don't Stand a Chance' and 'Bryn') all went straight to my top 100 songs of all time with a bullet. From Contra, only the breezy 'Holiday', the catchy and very popular 'Cousins' and 'Horchata', in which the kalimbo and marimbo both feature, are that good.
But the rest of the songs are still anything but ordinary.' I Think Ur A Contra', 'Giving up the Gun' and 'White Sky' are all very good tracks, yet still very contrasting. It's the beauty of Vampire Weekend - no tracks sound the same - they provide a musical education as well as 36 minutes of entertainment in 'Contra'.
'Contra' is defined by frontman Ezra Koenig as 'against' - "When things go bad everything is you contra the world" - he tells Triple J in their December/January issue. Koenig lyrically is in fine form, he sings how "I look psychotic in my balaclava" and girls who've been "vegetarian since the invasion".
Contra is an album where the band delves into their global sound, creating diverse, intimate yet extremely enjoyable music.
My Favourite Tracks: Cousins - Inescapable drum beats and a catchy chorus - a very indie tune where the word frenetic has never been applied more correctly.
Holiday - Breezy, idealistic song where you just want to kick off your shoes and relax under a palm tree - or dance your socks off to this very catchy tune.
Horchata - Eloquent brilliance. Lyrically the best song of the album, and a softer song than the two preceeding it. The album opener, with marimba and kalimbo being used, really sets the tone of 'Contra' - Vampire Weekend are here to show us what is really 'them'. And they do it so well - whilst still creating an album featuring a range of different styles - all inspired by a wide range of influences.
Not as indie as the first album - so I'm not as keen on it as I was on the debut (it got 5 out of 5 from me), but this is still a brilliant album - it features a whole range of different styles (Dancehall, African Music, baile funk, among others) yet not one song sounds out of place.
Rating: A terrific album.
4 1/2 out of 5.
Reviewed by: Adam
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