Album Review: Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires Of The City

Vampire Weekend
Modern Vampires Of The City
Rating: Woof Daddy

At times, Vampire Weekend seem to be the easiest band to hate in the world. Dismissed a lot of times as upper-class, pretentious posers who wrongfully appropriated Afro-pop, few have ever really dared to look at how such appropriation itself was an wry, ironic take on just such appropriation. Despite all this hatred towards their J.Crew take on such musical genres, few could really deny that the band has its chops, and the juicy lyrically interplay was enough to stump even the most scholarly of critics. While there is nothing overtly different on Modern Vampires of the City, multiple listens of the record reveal a staggering jump in confidence and approach to their sound. For the first time, Vampire Weekend have dropped their snooty archness and reveal a truly emotional and warm heart that permeates the record. Ezra Koenig inhabits these characters and stories as if they are his second skin. Lyrically, there are still the usual arcane references, in-jokes, puns, and elaborate catalogs of events and place names, but instead of used in a pat-my-own-back style, they are used in a way that integrates fully with the characters and stories. Modern Vampires of the City is Vampire Weekend's most emotionally mature and "adult" record, a chronicle of growing up and realizing that the young always want to be older and the old want to be younger, never fully experiencing life in the moment and with purpose, but sadly with regret.

Bookended by two stately tracks, this album is their first that doesn't immediately jump into the Afro-pop they are known for, taking a more measured, elegantly chamber-pop oriented direction. "Obvious Bicycle" uses a Ras Michael reggae sample along with clanking percussion and resonating piano chords to recount the tale of an out of work friend who is counseled to "spare your face the razor/Because no one’s gonna spare the time for you" which perfectly captures that sense of not being at one with the world.



While "Young Lion" closes things out with delicately ornate piano and choral vocals, urging these people in transition to "take your time."

But throughout Modern Vampires of the City there is a restless experimentation with their sound, refusing to stay in any type of rut or remain steadfast to their old records. They allow songs to open up and breathe, not afraid to stray from their former, hook-ridden focus. Of course, this doesn't mean that Vampire Weekend gave up hooks altogether. The singles so far on this record are particularly brilliant. "Step" is an elegant, harpsichord led mid-tempo track that finds Koenig's voice achingly tender and emotive. The track feeds off the themes of the record, with the haunting line "Wisdom's a gift, but you'd trade it for youth/Age is an honor -- it's still not the truth."



"Diane Young" (a pun on the little too bleak for comfort "Dying Young") trades 50s style vocal delivery with horn skronks and driving percussion for another take on a character unsure where they are going, but attempting to live fast and die young, with the mantra: "Nobody knows what the future holds/And it’s bad enough just getting old/Live my life in self-defense/You know I love the past, ’cause I hate suspense."



And "Ya Hey" twisting and turning the vocals into electronic hysterics over a stately beat, twinkling keyboards, and swooning synths.



The album and perhaps their entire career leads up their most beautiful and emotionally direct song, "Hannah Hunt." Koenig's voice is barely a whisper through the first 2:40 of the track, recounting a couple's cross-country journey from awareness to doubt, where suddenly the track erupts and Koenig's voice practically rips out of its restraints. It is a remarkable song that holds immense depths of heart and feeling, and echoes anyone that has come up short with their belief in another person. The album is full of such intimate moments that speak to the amazing assurance Koenig and Co. have in their craft. This willingness to forgo the kitsch of their sound comes out again on another standout track, the haunting organ drones and skittering percussion of "Hudson" which builds on a martial pace and somber choral figure.

Of course, there are still plenty of earworm tracks that will throw you around with hooks galore. Koenig breathlessly flows through "Worship You" as the drums reach a fevered pitch under dizzying guitars and soaring strings. "Finger Back" could easily fit on either of their first two albums with its infectious, herky-jerky rhythms and blitzkrieg delivery. And "Unbelievers" features a gorgeous, heartfelt vocal where Koenig worries about relationships in this world besotted by religion, wondering if different beliefs can ever work together, saying to his love "I know I love you/and you love the sea/but what Holy water contains /a little drop, little drop for me?"



Modern Vampires of the City feels like a major leap forward for the band, while in actuality it has been hinted at all along. It is a journey they do not seem eager to rush, allowing each of their other records to stand on their own as well form a base for this, quite frankly one of the most stunning pop albums of recent memory. Yes, you can still slag them as poser hipsters, but it is very difficult to say they don't know what the hell they are doing. This is a record that will hold up over time and will considered a classic, its themes are always topical, and their approach with the record as a whole is nothing short of masterful.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.