The first big album of 2010 has arrived and is so laden with expectation that I struggled to lift it off the shelf in Tesco.
'Contra'
Vampire Weekend have finally released ‘Contra’ and the follow up to one of the best debuts of recent times comes with a hefty load of expectation and anticipation.
After a decade in which bands seemed only able to pull off a great debut and not a lot else (See my previous article on that here), our hope for a great follow up to kick off this brave new decade is strong.
After the unlikely success story of their debut in which they created a sound that was genuinely fresh in the current mainstream, the most pertinent questions surrounding their second album seemed to be whether they could make another record that sounded as fresh or would they stick by their tried and tested formula?
Well the answer is somewhere in between. The elements that made their debut great are still present; they just have to make room for some ambitious new ideas. The balance between the two is what makes this album a success.
The simple indie-pop fun of their hit ‘A-Punk’ can be found again on first single ‘Cousins’ and ‘Holiday’. But the slower serious side hinted at on their debuts closer ‘The Kid’s Don’t Stand A Chance’ is given more prominence and developed in ‘Taxi Cab’ and ‘I Think Ur A Contra’.
The addictive album opener ‘Horchata’ is a showcase of what the band does best. Cryptic and intelligent lyrics over a mish-mash of sounds. Thudding African drums, electronic sounds, wooden percussion and ‘M79-esque’ violins. It shouldn’t all fit together, but it does, and it’s ingenious. And this is the case in almost every song.
Of course, it does make it hard to label. The indie and afro-pop that made up their debut have been joined by more electronic sounds and samples. They even manage to throw in some frantic auto-tune vocals on ‘California English’. The list of who played what instrument on what track inside the cover is quite hefty to say the least.
The highpoints of the album are ‘Run’ and ‘Giving Up The Gun’, true signs of a band maturing and growing in confidence, with a rich sound that will easily fill the arenas that the band will soon be playing in.
Whilst some have labelled them pretentious and accused them of stealing sounds for their debut, they have stuck to their guns on this follow up and even managed to combine more influences to make something new and different, which is pretty much all that can be asked of musicians now that originality is rare.
Of course you could just ignore all that and enjoy this album simply for the lovely summer sound it has, like its predecessor, and it may just remind you what sunshine is like, something we here in the UK have all long since forgotten.
The album is currently being streamed here
Tim Marklew
