I've been a fan of Vampire Weekend for years, which is not the easiest thing to admit because these guys are basically the hipster scapegoats for irrelevance. Is it because they wear new sweaters instead of vintage ones? Is it because boating people think they are edgy? I'm not sure. But, I've always liked this band, and I was glad to find that Modern Vampires in the City, their junior release, still holds up to the band's previous work.
Vampire Weekend get flack for incorporating Creole and Caribbean elements into their music. As a Caribbean, that doesn't bother me – probably for the same reason that it doesn't bother me that the Clash played reggae. It's music, and it's okay to be inspired. Get over it. Modern Vampires in the City is still as catchy and full of cute bells and whistles and gibberish as any other Vampire Weekend album, so fans are going to be pleased.
What stands out to me is the recording of this album. It took me a while to figure out why things sounded a bit off, and I think it's because it hit me that this is a rough-sounding, at times loud album (just listen to those drums!), which has little to no guitar on it. The album still rocks (like on the song “Diane Young” and “Ya Hey”) as we veer in and out of the slower numbers (like the album starter “Obvious Bicycle”) which serve to give Modern Vampires in the City a strange mood that sounds both unique and enjoyable. And it does it all using organs, horns, strings, and piano. It definitely is trying to sound elegant but somehow also has a rough edge to it. Very interesting.
The vinyl is a splendid package as well. Along with the obvious download, we get a giant poster which doubles as a lyric sheet on the backside and this nice little touch of using a black slipcover for the vinyl. This looks smooth when housing black wax (which is what we're reviewing here) and absolutely badass on white wax. I think you can guess which copy you need.
Here's another good one for 2013.
Artist:
www.vampireweekend.com/
www.myspace.com/vampireweekend
www.facebook.com/VampireWeekend
www.twitter.com/vampireweekend
Album:
Modern Vampires in the City is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
