Vampire Weekend, Contra
by Daniel Wright
Of all the odd indie bands from the past few years, I wouldn’t have predicted Vampire Weekend to be the one to hit #1 on the Billboard 200. But, like Elvis did with rock & roll, Clapton did with blues guitar and (arguably) Eminem did with rap, leave it to the white kids to bring the black music to the pop charts.
Fela Kuti (1938-1997), a Nigerian activist and musician, is primarily cited as the creator of the genre of “afro-beat” which heavily influences Vampire Weekend’s sound. But while Kuti used music to rally people and fuse nightlife with socio-political rebellion (think M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”), Vampire Weekend tends to tackle more domestic issues. It still however retains the uplifting spirit Kuti started. Perhaps the increased popularity of the deceased Fela Kuti can attribute to the recent popularity of Vampire Weekend and other afro-pop/worldbeat groups. Kuti is making a comeback starting with the 2008 off-Broad Way show titled “Fela!” produced by Jay-Z and Will & Jada Smith (among others).
This past summer we were thrown for a loop when Rostam Batmanglij (Vampire Weekend’s keyboardist) and Wes Miles (Ra Ra Riot) created a spin-off group named Discovery. Like Vampire Weekend’s S/T, Discovery’s LP was either loved or hated. I must admit (if you couldn’t tell already) my bias leans towards the former. But, what shocked just about everyone was that Discovery wasn’t a blend of the two group’s organic instrumentals and soft, thought-provoking lyrics, it was an R&B, autotuned, glitch-beat dance group. So with the announcement of Vampire Weekend’s Contra, I couldn’t help but expect something completely refreshing, especially with the mysterious yellow polo-wearing girl on the cover starring blankly at me. Alas, I was slightly disappointed to see Vampire Weekend make another album which reverted back to their previously successful formula.
Contra is not all predictable, though. “California English” sounds like someone held down the echo peddle or sped-up the track in a surprisingly delightful way. Thankfully, Ezra Koenig (singer/guitarist and former English teacher) resists talking about obscure grammar; unfortunately, there are no Lil’ Jon references. “Giving Up The Gun” is the most pop-sounding Vampire Weekend track to date, which will rot your teeth if you’re not careful. My personal favourite is the catchy-as-hell M.I.A. sampled, “Cha-Lat, Cha-Lat, Cha” on “Diplomat’s Son” which will be stuck in my head for the next month.
Two things happen when a band of Vampire Weekend’s former status gets this kind of recognition: first, there is backlash from previous fans that can’t stand that their indie band is now a household name and second, old fans rub it in the new fans’ faces about how long they’ve been listening to Vampire Weekend and how much better their old stuff is. I urge anyone who feels like joining either of these two camps to resist. Instead, if you’re feeling like you’ve lost something special, take solace in the fact that a lot of Vampire Weekend’s new found popularity is probably because of sexy teenage vampires.
Notable Tracks: “Horchata,” “Diplomat’s Son,” “White Sky,” “Cousins”
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