Possibly the best thing to happen to ears all year, Vampire Weekend's new album, Contra is available in stores. If you're a fan of the groups self-titled first album, and haven't gotten their new one, you really should. Contra is even better than the EP. "Horchata," the first song on the album showcases their confessed African-influenced pop sound that sucks you in immediately.
The first time that song comes on, any real Vampire Weekend fan will smile wide, with lyrical awesomeness that starts out, "In December drinking horchata, I'd look psychotic in a balaclava; winter's cold is too much to handle, pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals." Now imagine that with the trademark beats the band gained notoriety for, and you've got a whole afternoon of audible bliss.
Not convinced? Fine, go on to the next track, "White Sky," if you dare. The super catchy, slowed down synthy sounds are practically impossible not to like. The background vocals harmonizing the Oooh's and Ahh's and other sounds that don't type well brings you "around the corner to the house that modern art built." Which has midgets on the second floor, apparently.
From the guy who doesn't give a f*** about an Oxford Comma (an optional comma that comes before the word and in a list), this album is a great follow up. The songs are damn catchy and upbeat. Putting this on and walking to work through the blizzard snow made things a lot less awful.
The lyrics in all the groups' songs are so fast and intelligent that you have to really pay attention or you'll miss everything. On the song California English there are what sounds like thousands of fancy Ivy League words being said in 3 short minutes. The way the words are strung together, in that almost nursery rhyming fashion really makes the group a standout favorite from most other things out there right now.
The album slows down and deepens on the track Taxi Cab, where the narrator recalls past events. "Baby we don't speak of that, like real aristocrats." This track has the synths unplugged and replaced by their piano counterparts. The narrator claims he's "unsentimental while driving around," but that's clearly not the case.
If you manage to actually buy the album, you might be wondering, hey who is this hot girl on the front? You and a lot of other people are wondering that same thing. Ezra Koenig, the founding member of the band compared the image to the famed Rorschach test, (Horary for Psychology references) as the cover has multiple, subjective meanings. Koenig was quoted as saying; "Some people get very mad when they see a white blond girl in a Polo shirt."
By the time the Giving up the Gun and The Diplomat's Son have finished, you might notice small grey gelatinous piles have formed on your shoulders. Do not panic, you brain has simply expanded and exploded from all the northeastern awesome is has just absorbed. It's a good thing.
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