Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City

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At this point, it’s hard to write anything about Vampire Weekend’s endlessly dissected self titled 2008 debut besides noting that most of its detractors focused on the band’s preppy Ivy League references and "appropriation" of afro-beat sounds rather than the quality of the music itself, which had more pop power in a four-song run ("Oxford Comma" through "M79") than most bands can muster in a career.

. 2010’s Contra was transitional, tilting away from the Graceland-inspired backbeat and lead man Ezra Koenig’s notoriously clean guitar tone towards a more synthetic sound. There were also more moments of honest introspection, particularly on standout album closer "I Think Ur a Contra," which, underneath its nonsense name, left Koenig more vulnerable than ever ("Never pick sides/Never choose between two/But I just wanted you/I just wanted you").

At its core Modern Vampires of the City still has the clever hooks and effortless melodies that made the band blogosphere darlings in 2008, but underneath the gloss there’s a less easy, more fatalistic worldview. Take "Unbelievers," a toe-tappable close cousin to Vampire Weekend’s "Campus." In 2008 Koenig was musing on an aw-shucks collegiate romance gone awry, but here he’s struggling with existential malaise, singing "I’m not excited but should I be?/Is this the fate that half of the world has planned for me?" On "Finger Back," a percussive, fast-paced pop tune, he’s equally weighty, closing with "I don’t want to live like this but I don’t want to die."

Modern Vampires is a consistently interesting album – only the frantic "Worship You" sputters out on repeat listens – but there are three standouts. Opener "Obvious Bicycle," builds on mellow piano and synthetic percussion, before Koenig hits a soaring, gorgeous chorus coated with swirling backing vocals. "Hannah Hunt" slow-builds from a whisper of a start before a wistful Koenig hits a sweeping chorus ("If I can’t trust you then damn it Hannah/There’s no future, there’s no answer") over a weeping guitar and reverb-drenched percussion. "Ya Hey" is marked by a strange marriage of synth-distorted vocals, hand claps and Koenig’s musings on God (Through the fire and through the flames/You won’t even say your name/Only ‘I am that I am’), but still hits with a worthwhile melody at every turn.
 
According to Koenig, Modern Vampires marks the completion of a trilogy, and if that’s the case, it’s an impressive one. Having proven themselves a band that’s more than lived up to the hype, and seems bent on perpetual motion, the prospects for these Ivy Leaguers have never looked better.

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