Vampire Weekend's new "Contra" is Very Likable But Still Not as Good as Debut

I seem to have nothing in common with the collective persona known as Vampire Weekend — which continues to be purposely hyped by the music media — and yet I like the group. Their smart, quasi-multicultural American pop rock is electric enough to take a quick liking to. And easy to enjoy from thereon.

The Village Voice recently described the band as "blissfully erudite yacht-punk" — and I had a brief laugh over that one — but that can't be exactly right. There's more depth to these guys than mere preppies with instruments. They're not exactly Holden Caulfields. No. But I do see them as the characters in the moving images of Whit Stillman, the 90s auteur (I'm thinking of his 1994 movie Barcelona, to be precise). And what other contemporary bands, for instance, would lyrically chronicle the small account of a woman who stopped eating meat to protest the Iraqi war (in the song "Holiday"). The songwriting is short story-esque.

There are many instances on Vampire Weekend's new album, Contra (in songs like "White Sky" and "California English," in particular), where vocalist Ezra (not Pound) Koenig sounds enough like Paul Simon, circa Graceland, that you might expect Chevy Chase to appear in some future music video. While at other times you don't hear Paul Simon at all. The Vampire Weekend musical education is one of a high-brow cocktail of Squeeze, Police, Peter Gabriel, Joe Jackson, (mid-80s) Elvis Costello, and all those other obvious ingredients from the post-punk 80s. You could easily drink this at a fancy beach resort and/or a (Manhattan) dive bar — it doesn't matter.

The best of Contra is on display with songs like "Taxi Cab," a ballad with playfully poetic richness in its lyrics. As always the affluent-punk beatnik verse is witty and full of life. "Cousins" is simply an amazing song — possibly the best Vampire Weekend song there is — in its speedy, keen guitar and beautifully frantic Elvis Costello delivery. "Cousins" is exactly the electricity that makes Vampire Weekend so special.

Contra is a very listenable, likable album. Still not as good as their debut, however.

Grade: B

Review by Pat Prince