Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride

"All I do is lose, baby/ All I want's to win" is not exactly a statement of contentment. Lots of other lines that refute that read of the album, but I understand the impulse of the review. The album feels sunny even when it's more complicated than that.

happiness doesn’t make for great art

can’t believe this made it into review copy in 2019 but i guess i’ve had no evidence we aren’t going to talk about the same things forever

fwiw I don’t really agree with that statement either

fwiw i like the rest of that review very much

yeah its good and this album is good

There's the slightest hint of Thom Yorke (good!) and Billie Joe Armstrong (less good)

" the way the band used to sound anxious and self-examining about their privilege but now seem oblivious."

I dunno, I've read This Life to be almost entirely about examining your privilege. I think it's a tough subject to tackle in a song without coming across as cringeworthy and self-aggrandising, but they do it really well here. Feeling as though you're immune to the "pain/rain", "crumbling dreams", "the hate waiting at the gate" etc. cheating through this life and all its suffering.

yeah, "This Life" is if anything -- at last -- the "You Can Call Me All" that the band's detractors have expected from them: examining your privilege, etc.

Also, Unbearably White hasn't been discussed much in here, but it's one of my favourites from this record. Beautiful instrumentation, and I love Ezra's little yOohoOOOs over the outro, and the way he sings "'iz hard on the body....iz hard on the mind" in the chorus.

thought this was fun:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlUV6TXwKEI

So for those of us who think it's great but a bit too long, which tracks would you cut?

I'd cut "My Mistake" and the Steve Lacy tracks.

OK ... Ezra's blinking style ... twi quick ones, every time. Is this common? I have never seen this before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkPWqnTWj38

Was it Borges what said 'happiness does not need to be transformed; happiness is its own end'? I get that.

I keep hearing We Belong Together. I think you'd have to be pretty tin-eared to not realise the Keats and Yeats line is dreadful (notice he gave it away) but that's clearly a choice. And it's Love of Common People all the way (in a good way).

(Borges did also say 'I have committed the worst sin a man can commit: I have not been happy' so there is that.)

So after listening to this a lot over the weekend, it's very good (and I still find it very easy to listen to and to absorb for a double album).
Basically I like all the songs, more or less (except "sunflowers" and maybe "how long?" which is a bit boring).
That said it may lack some REALLY great songs/deep cuts.
So far, my favourites, besides the singles, are "rich man", "flower moon" and "jerusalem". two of the duets are also fun ("gold rush" and "we belong together" even though it IS silly !).
About the D. Haim tracks (she's on 9 tracks in total, I think), the only problem is that their voices don't particularly go/blend well together. Not enough contrast and differences in textures and personalities, imo.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/vampire-weekend/2019/webster-hall-new-york-ny-6390fe03.html

This setlist though.

That's a LOOOONG concert !

it was an all day thing with the sets spread across 7 hours apparently, kinda ridiculous lol. looks like they played nearly their entire discography

Man, "Everywhere" is really continuing to be an u&k text for millennial bands, huh?

u&k ?

vw have been covering it since 2008 iirc

"Urgent & Key"

Also didn't know they'd been covering it that long.

oh ok thanks !

i think its a huge success insofar as everyone having really different favorites. my mistake and spring snow are getting almost no love, but those are easily two i love most.

Oh I like "my mistake" ! It has a very cool oldies harmonic structure.

Keats and Yeats thing is a joke of two things that should go together (poets) and look like they should rhyme but don't.

The whole new episode of Time Crisis is him chatting bits about the album with Jake Longstreth and Ariel Rechtshaid while playing it back in sequence.

My Mistake is nice on its own, but it brings the flow of the album to a grinding halt imo

Keats and Yeats thing is a joke of two things that should go together (poets) and look like they should rhyme but don't.

Yeah, to me it's the same kind of playful song as Gershwin's "Let's call the whole thing off".

also a ref to the Smiths' "Cemetery Gates."

Still clangs.

i haven't given this enough plays to really absorb all of its parts yet, but, my initial feelings are not good.

this is exactly the kind of music that usually gets right to me: witty, canny, layered, bright, referential, colorful, accomplished, winsome, charming, self-aware, subtle hints of gloom... but holy cow am i not in the mood for this shit right now. thanks guys great record here's your A+ now fuck off, is how i break it down to an extent

hi, goole!

the new Pure Bathing Culture record is shockingly terrific and pfork dismissed it so i'm in a bad mood about indie tentpole releases at the moment!!

and, hi!

had this playing in one earbud just now and it was sort of blending into the background until "My Mistake" comes on. After starting it over with both earphones it was quite different in isolation and pretty cool.

goole :)

sup goole

I’m really into this record, but, other than the opening track, most of my favorites are the ones that were released earlier

Now that I’ve sat with this album for a few days: I give Ezra credit for stretching and trying for something that doesn’t feel like a rote follow-up to the last one. But for me, all the places where stretched just don’t work for me.

So, as is inevitable with double albums in the age of customizable playlists, I made my own version of this album that cuts out 7 tracks. And the result is... a rote follow-up to the last record. Sue me, this is what I wanted. Based on what I’m reading this probably eliminates everything you all are finding compelling about this record, but for me this makes the album 5x more enjoyable.

Hold You Now (feat. Danielle Haim)
Bambina
Big Blue
How Long?
Unbearably White
Rich Man
Sympathy
Flower Moon (feat. Steve Lacy)
2021
Spring Snow
Jerusalem, New York, Berlin

yah im not feeling this. it sounds like it was optimized to be played at coachella/festival circuit, the sound is way too widescreen normie indie c 2015.. i blame ezra moving to california (why does everyone do this in their thirties? lol.. kinda corny)

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 !