By Patrick Greenwell
Vampire Weekend released their self-titled debut album in 2008, to widespread critical acclaim. The four preppy guys from New York City provided an interesting take on the afro-beat musical style. “Vampire Weekend” was a breezy, lighthearted album that was difficult not to enjoy. But with their new follow-up album, “Contra,” the band has chosen to move in a more serious direction, which is not necessarily a good thing.
Plenty of bands get more serious with age and experience, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that kind of progression. Los Campesinos! did the same with “Romance Is Boring,” and it worked well for them. However, in trying to take on more serious lyrical content and musical styling, Vampire Weekend seems to have lost the sense of fun that made them so enjoyable in the first place.
Certainly there are a few standout tracks on “Contra.” The first track, “Horchata,” is a nice opener that sounds like it could work well with their previous album. It’s catchy, and perhaps simple, but it works well. “Holiday” is a similar kind of success. Both songs are breezy and accessible, which was Vampire Weekend’s strongpoint.
Sadly, both of those songs come early in the album, and after “Holiday” things start to fall apart. “California English” is an experiment with auto-tune, and it comes out as messy and somewhat unpleasant. One of Vampire Weekend’s strengths has always been the instrumentality of Ezra Koenig’s vocals, and it seems almost offensive to alter them so significantly. “Taxi Cab” is equally unpleasant, and it begins the rather distressing trend of songs without hooks. Many of the rest of the tracks on the album are difficult to get into, because there is nothing catchy about them. By no means does this suggest that all songs need to be catchy, but something must pull the listener in. Simply rambling on and on in a vaguely melodic manner doesn’t do that. As a result, the next five tracks didn’t seem to stand out at all.
Vampire Weekend’s trek into serious musical content has left the feeling that the band does not have anything serious to say. It becomes clear that they are at their best when they are simply four guys having fun. Their Caribbean-influenced style is simply more suited to a lighthearted production. New listeners and fans alike would do well to stick with the self-titled debut and leave the follow-up alone. It’s not an offensively bad album, but it is certainly disappointing.
