Vampire Weekend; Arctic Monkeys of 2008?

dicksovery

― an american hippie in israel (Jordan), Tuesday, January 12, 2010 6:06 PM (8 minutes ago)

go big or go home man, dicksuckery

the alternative press excerpt on metacritic is sadly pretty otm

Misguided in points, Contra shows a more accomplished and daring Vampire Weekend--albeit a less endearing one. [Feb 2010, p.97]

Late to the party, as always, finally got around to picking up the S/T debut last week and I've been listening to it constantly; I think it's fucking great.

A couple of days ago "Horchata" showed up on my iPod and I expected to dig it but I HATE the lyrics - it's like watching a guy ride a unicycle: "I could do that - but why would I want to?"

But it could well grow on me - some of the songs I didn't like on the first one at first did.

surprisngly good record.
basically, it's Vampire Weekend Meets Dirty Projectors - more sophisticated. and they do sound more "professional" as a band.
i think the production ideas and playing is better than the song writing, which now sounds a little too repetetive/familiar (though less catchy than the debut).

quite a bit of this record is just them trying diff/new stuff out/trying to show theyre not a 1 trick pony (save for cousins, which is very much like the debut, but no worse for it) - not all of it sounds totally comfortable/perfect, but you have to give them credit for that, and also for the fact it is all pretty intriguing/enjoyable, even if you do miss them just being 'them'. not many bands can switch up their sound without losing a lot of what makes them good.

otm

I miss some of the clean guitar solos a bit but this is enjoyable. I especially like Taxi Cab so far

Think there's a lot to be said for the lightness-of-touch they display on this album... anyone else trying to make this record would end up sounding like complete cunts, and that they haven't is an achievement in its own right.

That said, I'm sure they've deliberately made the whole record as annoying as possible to anyone who didn't like them the first time round.

toooooooooooo many slow songs

"That said, I'm sure they've deliberately made the whole record as annoying as possible to anyone who didn't like them the first time round."

and also to people who did.

uggghhhh@tht tumblr post

January 7th accusation (sorta)that appeared (before the Haitian earthquake) on a blog. The full blog post uses an, uh, unusual term to describe certain music listeners(but that's a different issue)

The song “California English” sounds a lot like Haitian kompa music. Kompa is a kind of folksy, but soulful, sound out of Haiti and some African countries have similar sounding music. VW are speaking in a very indecipherable way that might as well be Haitian Creole. They might want to try their luck in Haiti with this record. Above, are the songs “California English” by Vampire Weekend and “Ke’m Pa Soté by Boukman Eksperyans, a Haitian band. I’m not saying they’re the same song but the similarities are undeniable.

http://www.on221.com/?p=9700

A pleasant album, but way too slow, and not many standout tracks unfortunately. Typically mediocre follow-up album with three or four decent songs, rest we forget. The remaining songs are not bad either, just can't imagine that I will listen them again intentionally.

a contrast!

Quietus

''Cousins' is a curious choice of lead single, representing something of a red herring with its blistering staccato rhythm and agitated vocal urgency. It's defiantly uncommercial by Vampire Weekend's standards, and ushers in the album's weakest section: the stodgy AM rock of 'Giving Up The Gun' and ropey cod-reggae of 'Diplomat's Son' (the latter only partly redeemed by Koenig's rather incongruous Morrissey impression)'

Our Mr Reynolds

'"Cousins" very very good
"Giving Up the Gun" sensational
"Diplomat’s Son" supersensational'

Nope both "Giving up The Gun" and "Diplomat's Son" are ace.

My two favorite tracks!

diplomat's son and white sky are the highlights so far

Yeah I love "White Sky" though I feel it's also the kind of track that I would love, which makes me want to find another track to call my favourite. Silly I know.

White Sky is my favourite thing here by some distance. There's something quite effortlessly charming about the chorus.

yeah I'm kinda loving "Diplomat's Son" and its viva hate stylings

Wow. Never thought of that!

horchata 4eva

"White Sky" is the most Paul Simonesque track on it. I guess that's not an issue in a bad way for some of ya.

Seconding "Horchata," esp. for the way Ezra delivers the line "Oh you had it, but oh no you lost it."

I like how the first half of the album is all More Songs About Buildings and Food and the second turns into Fear of Music.

'giving up the gun' is the only one i really like so far, instead of just admire

I'm with the Quietus there, those two songs are the worst bits on "Contra".

I like how the first half of the album is all More Songs About Buildings and Food and the second turns into Fear of Music.

I think I could grow to dig their David Byrne if I enjoyed their Frantz-Weymouth.

i love this album-- at first i thought the one knock on it is that as individual songs, the album tracks don't really stand alone in singularity like "m79" or "campus" or what have you but i think it's actually kind of a strength. the album is so easy to listen to straight through. the final three songs are prob my favorite part of the album ("horchata"/"white sky" aside). ezra really sounds great over those brittle, percolating keyboards

''Cousins' is a curious choice of lead single, representing something of a red herring with its blistering staccato rhythm and agitated vocal urgency.

Doesn't this pretty much parallel "A-Punk"?

"White Sky" is the most Paul Simonesque track on it.

Yeah, the guitar line is VERY similar to the guitar on Simon's "Crazy Love pt. 2", though the pace of the VW song is faster. Still, it's among my favorites on the new record.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/arts/music/16vampire.html

Mr. Koenig has a beautiful, lithe voice

??

lol of course whiney hates this

i dig any of the tracks that sound like paul simon or are just chill cool traxx to vibe out to. i dont really like cousins at all, as a result.

outside of (but also including) rap, really feelin 'lifestyle music' lately. if someone says it will soundtrack my shopping trip @ starbucks/ikea/etc ill probably be more likely to dig it. i guess this is sub-max but what can u do

Basically agree with that take. I quite like "Holiday" and "Cousins" but they're not what I go to this album for.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/arts/music/16vampire.html

Mr. Koenig has a beautiful, lithe voice

??

― velko, Sunday, January 17, 2010 4:59 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"beautiful"
"lithe"

great album. "giving up the gun" and "diplomat's son" both kinda suck but i think the former could actually work really well on radio, they'd be smart to make that a single

i feel like this one is more pro but songs are maybe not as good

the other thing abt this band is how their two most quoted couplets have to do w/obscure drinks and garments and its supposed to represent their whole much discussed class signifiers thing - but isnt that just knowing what things are called

o and this holiday song is hella annoying - totally skipped past it

seems like theyre maybe going for something more universal and authentic and thats the problem

that sentiment is just not as believable from this from this guy

explain "universal."

well judging from all the hullabaloo surrounding the 1st album the guys particular granular intelligence was a big part of the draw - but now hes singing like it occurred to me that we could ruuuun and it doesnt sound half as convincing

as opposed to lets get the fuck out of cape cod

theyre sort of caught inside their own joke and its starting to bum them out?

outside of (but also including) rap, really feelin 'lifestyle music' lately. if someone says it will soundtrack my shopping trip @ starbucks/ikea/etc ill probably be more likely to dig it. i guess this is sub-max but what can u do

― not a playa but i ilx a lot (deej), Sunday, January 17, 2010 5:47 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Basically agree with that take. I quite like "Holiday" and "Cousins" but they're not what I go to this album for.

― Tim F, Sunday, January 17, 2010 6:47 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

sub-max!!! have a little decency yall

btw if ur lookin for lifestyle music this CD is pretty grebt--http://phjess.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/sting-if-on-a-winters-night2.jpg

if on a winters night a sting

what would vw sound like produced by alec empire? marginally more listenable.

Sting, the King of Pain, was once the king of (see below) "aristo-indie"

In the two-and-a-half years since Vampire Weekend’s debut EP first appeared, a wave of world-scavenging aristo-indie has emerged, most of it pale by comparison

That's Caramanica from the NY Times before he gets into the ska discussion