Vampire Weekend - Contra

For a band that faced a backlash even before their debut record had seen the light of day, Vampire Weekend haven’t done too badly. Having recently featured prominently in many albums of the decade polls, it’s easy to forget that the New Yorkers’ meteoric ascent in 2008 gave rise to slander and negativity in certain quarters. The band’s crime? Well, being affluent, well-educated and shopping at Benetton for starters. Much more contentious, though, was their appropriation of African rhythms and guitar tunings as part of a sound they themselves dubbed “Upper West Side Soweto”. Never mind the fact that countless other acts – Gang Gang Dance, Dirty Projectors and Yeasayer to name but three – were just as guilty of poaching ideas and riffs from ‘global’ sources; Ezra Koenig and co. were singled out as shameless musical colonialists, an accusation they may have found it difficult to shrug off were it not for an absolute shedload of stellar tunes.
 
Two years on, and the band members’ parents have presumably lost millions in the global recession, but what else is different this time out? Well, for one thing, like its predecessor, Contra’s lyrics are wilfully oblique throughout. And yet there won’t be quite as much scurrying for the dictionary or atlas this time round. Nor are there any songs about punctuation or Peter Gabriel. What there is, though, is greater restraint, a more considered feel across a more varied collection of songs.
 
Rather than bludgeoning the listener into a series of two-minute frenzies, the majority of Contra takes time to sink in. Album highlight ‘Run’ is a case in point: unremarkable upon first listen, repeated airings reveal it to be a loose-limbed delight, the outro unfurling atop an almost trancey horn synth line. It’s one of several tracks on which keyboardist/producer Rostam Batmanglij’s presence is keenly felt. As well as stretching past the six-minute mark, the enigmatic ‘Diplomat’s Son’ boasts a stuttering M.I.A. sample and – like album closer ‘I Think Ur A Contra’ – some impressive falsetto from Koenig. Indeed, the vocals sound cleaner and more commanding in general; he sings rather than yelps – a sign, like the album as a whole, of self-belief in the face of a million naysayers. Not all the new buttons work, however: ‘California English’s lame use of the dreaded auto-tune winds up sounding…..well, lame.
 
Overall, then, Contra does a pretty good job of proving there’s more to Vampire Weekend than deck shoes and Paul Simon retreads. By neatly sidestepping expectations they’ve delivered a follow-up that may leave certain sections of their fanbase underwhelmed, but is bound to claw back some acceptance from those who initially resented them. A fine, assured next step.