Graduating to a great sound: Contra reviewed

Contra
Vampire Weekend
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5 stars)
 
Thank God — Contra, the second album from Vampire Weekend, is better than “Cousins,” its first single, would suggest. While the frantic “Cousins” turns the melodic beats that typify Vampire Weekend on their head, Contra’s other tracks make up the perfect sophomore album — a more grown-up, different (but still recognizable) version of the first effort.
 
Contra follows the same formula as Vampire Weekend in terms of its basic structure and length. It clocks in at 39 minutes — a tease — starts with a catchy song (“Horchata”) and ends with a slow, sad and reflective one (“I Think Ur a Contra”).
 
If Vampire Weekend is an album for the summertime, Contra is one for fall. While Vampire Weekend’s signature afro-pop sound is still present, it’s made less warm by the band’s heavier reliance on synthesizers, most notably on “White Sky.” The lyrics are a bit more grown-up too. On “Giving Up The Gun,” lead singer Ezra Koenig sings, “When I was 17 / I had wrists like steel / and I felt complete / Now my body fades / beyond a brash charade / and I’m obsolete.”
 
But fear not — the boys from Columbia have still got that Ivy League charm, as they prove on “Diplomat’s Son.” Their songs continue to be filled with vivid, specific references and make you feel a little cooler and smarter just for listening to them.
 
“Horchata,” the opening track, is worldly, witty and undeniably intelligent. (It also marks the second time in my life I’ve had to use a dictionary to understand a song. The first was when I listened to Vampire Weekend’s “Oxford Comma.”)
 
Contra is a solid effort from a band with a unique sound, and will undoubtedly give the group staying power in an indie music scene that’s dominated by music that’s too experimental, serious and beatless to be enjoyable to anyone but the most hardcore of fans.
 
— Alexandra Duszak, aduszak@udel.edu

 

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