Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City poll

i think i'm voting "Diane Young," still going to listen before voting.

i am voting for ya hey

set my pistol on stun

hannah hunt

Unbelievers

Oh man this is a doozy of a record. Stone classic. Will have to listen more before I vote but it will probably be Step.

Unbelievers is exactly what I need from this band. Perfect song.

"Worship You" is the best Animal Collective song in existence.

haha, no.

Hannah Hunt

Definitely their worst album, a lot of the arrangements seem hollow - like there should be intricacies to them that aren't there. On the previous albums they had that lightness so this wasn't an issue but everything feels weightier here.

one of my fav albums

voting everlasting arms

Hannah without hesitation...and I don't even vote in these kind of polls anymore...such is the power.

step

Feel like "Step", "Everlasting Arms", "Worship You" and "Ya Hey" are all on about the same level of greatness.

"Hannah Hunt". Also this definitely wasn't the #1 album on ILM in 2013.

Tempted to go with "Hannah Hunt" cuz it's perfect but "Ya Hey" is their greatest moment if I squint and ignore the pitch shifted baby voice (which I assumed I'd eventually warm up to and never did)

Ya Hey is so great. A breakup song to God.

this album is really special to me. voting don't lie, which i can't believe hasn't been mentioned yet!

just the perfect place for this band to have gone after two pretty great first two albums

I love how quiet "Everlasting Arms" is.

Went with Ya Hey only because I couldn't actually pick and it seems like the 'senior' song in the set. One of my favourite albums.

Ya Hey no doubt. Beautiful album.

Haven't listened to this for a while, but 'Step' is the one that sticks out the most from that list.

yeah "Ya Hey" it is. One of the few (and last) times when I had a musical crush.
Loved that song with a passion for a while !
Second best would be "Hannah Hunt".
Great album.

"Worship You" is the best Animal Collective song in existence.

Everlasting Arms. This is definitely my least favorite of theirs. It's funny; I was never offended in the slightest bit by the whole preppy Ivy league aesthetic, but I the whole "anxiety over turning 30" theme of this album struck me as completely obnoxious.

Voted for Hannah Hunt which is one of my favourite songs of the decade so far.

unbelievers, step, hannah hunt, ya hey are all perfect so one of those idc which

I suppose it will take a while until the next album following Batmanglij's departure.
Curious about their next direction...

I overheard them at the Bernie Sanders rally last night (hard not to if you were anywhere near Greenwich Village), Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa and Unbelievers sounded strange without keys, but they didn't sound empty. I'm guessing there will be some more guest musicians and a heavier emphasis on Ezra's guitar playing going forward.

Played this quite a bit but never really connected to it emotionally, which disappointed me because lots of other people very clearly did. It's really beautifully crafted and put-together and interesting and hooky etc etc, I just didn't give a fuck about it.

Finger Back is just deliriously good. Everlasting Arms a close second. I love side 2 of this record.

Hannah Hunt because it's more mature than it seems at simple view. Last part never fails to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It's also extremely catchy considering how sad and downbeat it is.

Could easily pick ya hey, step, dont lie...

"ya hey." "breakup song to god" otm

also the inversion of "hey ya" somewhat resembling "yahweh" is like super precious and super smart and i love it idc

yea super precious is accurate, not in a good way to my ear; that plus the pitch shifted baby voice mentioned upthread makes me not a fan

only 1s I like are Hannah / don't lie / diane young

i like the pitch shifted voice thing

same. it's the hook

I hate the pitch shifted voice thing.

Step!

If I can't trust you then dammit Hannah.

i guess i miss remembered out 2013 poll.

out = our

i was listening to this today and remember thinking the pitch shifted hook sounded great. i dunno to me it sounds like VW figuring out how to sneak some post-autotune vocal manipulation into their music.

The pitch hook was to make Ya Hey sound closer to Yahweh iirc, can't find the interview where I'm sure Ezra said it... Maybe he didn't

it's so brilliant

pitch-shifted vocals on this album are prob my least favorite thing on it but it's not hard to overlook

the whole "anxiety over turning 30" theme of this album struck me as completely obnoxious.

― klonman, Thursday, April 14, 2016 1:37 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

can i ask, why?

Probably "Diane Young" followed by "Finger Back" but I never got into this album as much as their others.

can i ask, why?

"completely obnoxious" was too strong on my part, but I think I just got caught up reading interviews with Ezra in the pre-release run-up where he was referring to turning 30 and it kinda negatively affected my view of the album. To me it's just not a legit pretext to ruminate on mortality, although - in retrospect - I imagine the anxiety is more about everybody in the scene moving to Los Angeles than anything else (I feel like the great exodus started around then).

Also, the hollow production as referenced above. Much prefer the playfulness of Contra.

I don't even like this band but I still love "Ya Hey." ("Diane Young" is good too, fine.)

i did dig up this CD and played it again. one of the last CD i have bought. album is still a great listen, hope they can still make this type of music without Batmanglij.

"Don't Lie"

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

'hudson' probably wont get any votes since it doesnt have a big memorable hook but it's a really well executed song imo

after all that, i did end up voting for "Diane Young,"

got to know this thanks to the ILM placing (it was #6 - HAIM took the top spot), threw it in my spotify and rocked it a lot in 2014. got it on vinyl last year, felt very weird to be buying my first album by a band everybody else got into ten years ago and who are no longer a going concern but man is the songwriting on this good. "hannah hunt" is probably the one that pops into my head the most, and the most affectingly, but there are things that really draw me in "everlasting arms," "worship you" and "ya hey," and lots of others really. great record, thanks ilm.

I thought this was over, stupid time change.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

i guess this album is top heavy

I voted 'Giving Up The Gun'.

Damn! Great results. "Obvious Bicycle" and "Everlasting Arms" coulda had more love but what can ya do

good results.
the 3 that got no votes are not bad but clearly the more album tracks (actually, "worship you" might be the only song that I dislike on the album).
"Ya Hey" and "Hannah Hunt" have a grace that is almost... divine !

ugh. finger back is their best song!!!