Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride

This is the worst album title/cover art combo I’ve seen in a very long time.

prob good to give this guy the benefit of the doubt that every iota has been obsessively considered. certainly to a fault in some cases, but it's not like any of this is random. this is the best interview i've seen from this press cycle: https://www.coupdemainmagazine.com/vampire-weekend/15590

im still hopeful that large parts of this will grow on me though; i didn’t like modern vampires until like a year after i first heard it. ‘this life’ is so great

‘how long’ is kinda great too

yeah pgwp you don’t f/w “this life”?

WELL BABY I KNOW DEATH
PROLLY HASN'T HAPPENED YET
CUZ I DON'T REMEMBER LIVING LIFE BEFORE THIS

These interviews are interesting, but I'm still waiting for one where he mentions bandmates who aren't a) "collaborators" or b) Rostam.

Yeah "this life" is definitely one of the best tracks on the album.
So is "big blue". The singles choices were pretty good (except for "sunflower" obviously !).

ok warming up to this p quick lol. ‘unbearably white’ is beautiful

too late

ahah, in 12 hours !

yeah pgwp you don’t f/w “this life”?

― k3vin k., Tuesday, May 7, 2019 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think it’s corny. Aside from the “I’ve been cheating on you” line it sounds like a song for a montage in a teen comedy.

The entire album is pretty "corny".

Ezra Corny

I put myself through this whole thing earlier. For the first half I was thinking that I didn't hate it so much but it wasn't especially good, then it started to grate a bit more. I'll say that I wasn't forced to turn it off but that's all I'll say. I was never in their corner anyway so eh, like whatever you want to like. It does feel a bit sad that this band gets 200+ new answers for a mediocre album when other etc etc etc

the orchestra hit in “unbearably white” is unbearably good

not sure how i feel about ‘sympathy’... psych folk stomper is a weird look for them

rich man -> married in a gold rush -> my mistake -> sympathy -> sunflower

i don’t really dislike any of these songs but this run kills the album. album kicks ass both before and after it but also feels like it’s constantly getting started until it ends

yeah totally agree with that, that whole run feels like a misfire

"Married in a Gold Rush" is my fave of the proper D. Haim duets. I'd like "We Belong Together" if it weren't for the lyrics (though I do like the last minute of it).

"Sympathy" rules

rich man -> married in a gold rush -> my mistake -> sympathy -> sunflower

i don’t really dislike any of these songs but this run kills the album. album kicks ass both before and after it but also feels like it’s constantly getting started until it ends

― american bradass (BradNelson)

I like "Sympathy," otherwise quite otm

yeah that’s very otm

i don’t hate ezra’s corny country couplets and overall there are enough successes to justify his strategy of moving away from lyrics built around ‘expensive words’ towards writing simple straightforward love songs... but some of them (the United States one in ‘we belong’ has yet to fail to make me groan) are just like.. c’mon dude

‘New York Jerusalem berlin’ is one of their best closers

Nah.

Their best closer.

I don’t mind the keats/yeats like but it’s be a lot funnier if he mispronounced yeats imo

i like "rich man" and "my mistake" a fair bit but that's certainly the weakest stretch

"jerusalem, new york, berlin" is fantastic but "i think ur a contra" is still my favourite of their closers

heh -- my pick for worst song of their career through 2011. I didn't care about the literate lyrics or whatever -- I could not stand the untethered track and Koenig's vocal tone.

it’s funny that he sings the keats line, i like to imagine she was too embarrassed lol

rich man -> married in a gold rush -> my mistake -> sympathy -> sunflower

i don’t really dislike any of these songs but this run kills the album. album kicks ass both before and after it but also feels like it’s constantly getting started until it ends

― american bradass (BradNelson)

Yeah, I totally know what you mean. I had that same feeling earlier today although I've come to love Sunflower now.

I like Rich Man!

it'll prob grow on me

xp I do too. also like both of the steve lacy collaborations. haven't listened to the album as a whole to see how it flows

Two drum kits : now that’s getting serious !
https://youtu.be/l7RTO8uqUB8

rich man -> married in a gold rush -> my mistake -> sympathy -> sunflower

i don’t really dislike any of these songs but this run kills the album. album kicks ass both before and after it but also feels like it’s constantly getting started until it ends

― american bradass (BradNelson), 8. maj 2019 00:58 (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ezra keeps talking about the album as a double lp, so I don't think this is meant to run together. I agree, it's a but much, but I like Married in a Gold Rush as the end of one side, and while I don't like My Mistake, I think Sympathy -> Sunflower -> Flower Moon -> 2021 is a pretty good LP side. Weird as hell.

hmm i don't really like that jammy version of jerusalem new york berlin, that approach has worked for a lot of the other tracks from this album live but not this one. the sparseness of the album version with just the piano & bass synth is really what makes it work

« Gold rush » and « rich man » being among my favourites, I have no problem with that part of the album !
For me there are 3 main sections :
- « hold u » / « big blue »
- « unbearably white » / « sympathy »
- «  flower moon » / « jerusalem »
(I always skip « how long » and « sunflower »)
At this point I’m not sure which of these 3 parts I prefer...

the Steve Lacy numbers don't do a thing for me

« Flower moon » is so nice. And it’s one of the rare tracks that groove !
Regarding « we belong together » is it certain only Ezra sings the keats and yeats line ? I hear both of them.

And the middle 8 of « flower moon » is great.

my favourite alt tracklist so far is just cutting "married in a gold rush", "sympathy", "sunflower" and "we belong together" which really helps the flow of that awkward section. i'm fine with "sunflower" but keeping it there felt awkward and if it were there it'd be the weakest track.

Oh yeah, Flower Moon is perfect. Someone already pointed out the It's gonna take a YeeeAAaaaar but, but my gf and I have been walking around the house singing that non-stop since it came out. So catchy. Danielle Haim's "simple twist of fate" on the bridge is really nice too.

my gf and I have been walking around the house singing that non-stop since it came out.

you belong together

Oh I just heard this album and oh it's good. I think it's the most I've enjoyed an album by this band

Flower Moon makes me hope indie-mpb becomes a thing soon. So Good!

What song is the bassline from How Long referencing? It's really bugging me

it kinda kinda sounds like 'where is my mind?'

I'm hearing some sort of early-2000s hip hop tune from the Dre/Eminem/D12 era??

housewife?

https://youtu.be/WGXhmz1bEfg

Agree about the middle stretch. No duds but I reckon Sympathy is a really hard track to sequence within that album, and Rich Man really feels like a back-stretch tune rather than early (relatively) in the album.

I like "Sympathy," but am I the only one who hears the Doobie Brothers in there? "Without love, where would you be right now" etc.