Vampire Weekend is probably one the most popular indie artist that people (mainstream) have heard of. On their self title debut, Vampire Weekend's sound is fast, quirky and most importantly addicting. "A-Punk" and "Oxford Comma" are so simple and just makes you stop and listen. Now the pure indie boys are back with their second LP Contra.
One of the of the the most distinct features of Contra that comes to mind from my first listen is that how Vampire Weekend is evolving into a more complex style. Instead of the simple banging of drums and fast strums of guitar here and there. These boys are adding all sorts of obscure instruments that are usually not used in the indie genre.
"Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten," sings Ezra Koenig on the opener "Horchata" of the LP with such relish. Indeed the "feeling" of fast paced indie hits you immediately. The very diverse styles that Vampire Weekend delivers is a bit intense. You have calypso ("Horchata"), reggae ("Diplomat's Son) and psychedelic ("I Think Ur a Contra").
These indie rockers have stepped out of the collegiate sound of simplistic indie and developed their very wild and experimental styles. Yes I say styles because honestly, from the first listen you have no idea what's going to come next. Though its very diverse and quirky, some of the songs just don't work. "California English" is a mess of fast lyrics and autotune which doesn't work well with Vampire Weekend. Ezra Koenig has an excellent high original voice as it is, they didn't need to add annoying affects to his voice on a very mediocre track.
Contra is a pretty fun listen, but don't be expecting the very collegiate sound from their debut. If you're one who enjoys a more evolved and complex sound of indie pop with lots of interesting studio trickery, check it out.
Overall: 7.1
Track Listing:
1. Horchata - 8.0
2. White Sky - 7.5
3. Holiday - 8.0
4. California English - 4.5
5. Taxi Cab - 7.0
6. Run - 6.5
7. Cousins - 8.5 *
8. Giving Up the Gun - 9.0 *
9. Diplomat's Son - 6.5
10. I Think Ur a Contra - 8.5 *
* - Notable track.
Sample:
"Giving Up the Gun"
No comments:
Post a Comment