Vampire Weekend have always been a polarizing act among
music fans in general, and indie enthusiasts in particular. Criticism has been leveled at their supposed
misappropriation of afro-pop and world music, as well as their background as
well-heeled Ivy League graduates who parlay their upper class status into
arcane references to various status symbols, from horchatas to Oxford
commas. However, what cannot be denied
is that they have always tempered these pretensions with true craftsmanship,
creating memorable songs out of seemingly random influences. What always seemed be lacking amongst all
this, however, was a sense of maturity; Vampire Weekend always had more fun skewering
and paying tribute to their origins than concerning themselves with such petty
nuances like emotion. With Modern
Vampires Of The City, they look to rectify that (as if it needed fixing in
the first place).
Death and religion hover around almost every song here. Take a quick glimpse at the song titles: “Unbelievers,”
“Diane Young” (a play on dying young, which the band rightly thought too
obvious a title), “Worship You,” “Ya Hey” (sounds like Yahweh). “Wisdom’s a gift but you’d trade it for
youth,” singer Ezra Koenig observes on standout “Step,” and his vocal delivery
sells his sincerity perfectly. Where
earlier he might have traded in on signature yelps and up ticks in octaves,
Koenig remains restrained throughout, adding pathos where sarcasm might have been
present before. Keyboardist/producer
Rostam Batmanglij creates a soundscape to
match the more sober themes; gone is the everything and the kitchen sink
approach he favored on Contra, here replaced with a more nuanced
approach that adds texture where necessary, but never overwhelms the songs
themselves as they sometimes did on that previous record.
If all this sounds like Vampire Weekend have just dropped
their version of the dreaded “band embracing maturity” record, rest assured
that this is not the case at all.; they still haven’t forgotten the qualities
that made them so popular in the first place. “Diane Young” teeters on a
frantic processed beat and out of control Auto-Tune vocals, falling in line
with previous ravers like “A-Punk” and “Cousins,” and is the only instance here
where Koenig and Co. indulge their every whim. Elsewhere, their restraint is remarkable. “Step” plays as a variation on their
signature forays into reggae, but plays its hand close to the vest, never
resorting to histrionics, instead allowing its spare groove to pulse and
breathe where earlier they might have gone a few steps too far. And “Unbelievers” just might be Vampire
Weekend’s greatest song yet, a live favorite that’s been kicking around for
years, here finally reaching its full potential as a true anthem, with
rollicking piano and steadily rolling drums propelling the song while Koenig
drops vocal hook after vocal hook.
Modern Vampires Of The City also drops some nice
surprises, in particular “Hannah Hunt,” which plays as Vampire Weekend’s attempt
at a power ballad. That may sound a bit
demeaning, but it works like gangbusters, and Koenig lets his voice loose as
the song builds to its powerful climax. “Worship
You,” with its martial drumming and heavily strummed acoustic guitar, almost
comes off like a Celtic folk chant (or at least a play on Mumford and Sons,
perhaps) in its verses, but soon opens up into a slightly psychedelic chorus,
then tops it off with a fuzzed out guitar solo.
Modern Vampires Of The City represents a turning
point for Vampire Weekend. Where they
had shown slight growth and refinement between their self-titled record and Contra,
here the doors have been blown off the hinges. Sure, they are still wont to drop references to burning Saabs and
Communist readers, but they go down easier when there are real stakes
involved. So, now Vampire Weekend are
3-for-3, and have taken the Great Leap Forward. The only question that remains is where can they go next? And how soon
can we hear it?
Grade: A-
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