Vampire Weekend albums : Pauline Young !

Haven't had the new one anywhere near long enough to vote, really; at this point, I'm just not feeling it the way so many others seem to be. If I were to vote write now it'd be for Contra, I think, which has all I liked about the debut plus a bit more depth and, to my mind, better songs.

I've listened to the latest one A LOT since it's release (and have stopped for a few days now) so I think I'm ready to consider it in the general context of their work.
I really like it but it's almost like a product from a different period compared to the others.
"Contra" is very good but I like it a bit less than the first one.
The things I enjoy the most with this band are the lightness and chamber music/afro-caribbean arrangements so that makes sense, I guess.
But then, their best song for me might be "Ya Hey", so...

The first one is very good, but very frontloaded. So it's between the two others for me.

hum. VW is a bit frontloaded... but the 3 last tracks are also killer : "I stand corrected", "Walcott" and especially "the kids don't stand a chance" which is one of their best for me.

Contra
Modern Vampires
s/t

I find Contra to be quite better than the s/t.

I like approx 2-3 songs from each and can take or leave the rest.

alfred otm

Modern Vampires is the first VW I actively care about. That said they're still far from making an album I enjoy 100%.

Single wise, though, the order for me would be: VW > MVMC >> Contra.

Modern Vampires seemed like a huge leap forward to me.

The songs on MVMC are overall better than those on the previous albums but there's a lack of those immediate, upbeat singles the other two had. The album could benefit from having some sort of song like Oxford Comma tucked somewhere in between.

I do love Step and Ya Hey as singles but they seem too safe and downbeat to make any fuzz amongst new listeners. Also they seem to have already exhausted all the songs with single-potential (maybe Hannah Hunt? But, that one's also downbeat) whereas in the first album almost half of the songs had mass appeal. I think they released like five singles off it? And they could still pick more if they wanted to. In the end, VW are a pop band so most people will rate their albums based on the successful singles you can extract from them.

I think the perfect balance for them would be something in mood 3/4 MVC and 1/4 VW or Contra. But, hey, if they want to keep on risking and expanding into newer territory I don't mind at all.

I prefer the downbeat stuff i guess. Diane Young could be a single, no? Wasn't it one?

don't know the new one yet enough to vote for that. however, i totally love the other two. i'm going for the debut just because it is so much fun to listen to.

Love all three, but Contra has the edge by virtue of the expansiveness in the arrangements, the songs build very cleanly and logically to these quite emotional crescendoes, e.g:

- the offbeat "hey!" chant through the later choruses of "White Sky"
- the instrumental dancehall section of "Run" looping back into the dazzling guitar
- the massive driving drums leading into the final choruses of "Giving Up The Gun"
- the gargantuan extent of "Diplomat's Son" in all its parts.

-- Tracey Thorn revealing the quiet gritted-teeth melancholy of "Taxi Cab."

Totally.

super impressed by the production on the new one, bravo rostam and ariel. also "hannah hunt" still gives me all of the feels. so MVOTC.

yeah, the first one has the most charm and fun.
MVOTC is brilliant at places but it's very frontloaded.
some are fun but none of the tracks after "hannah hunt" are great (except "ya hey", of course). so that's half the album !
one the first album, the only track I don't really like is "Bryn".

Contra is weaker than the other two but I've not quite worked out which of the other two I prefer yet.

- the offbeat "hey!" chant through the later choruses of "White Sky"

Yes! I find it's not so much Vampire Weekend's songs or their overall sound that makes me like them, more little moments like this. Off the new one so far I noticed I like the high-register vocal that comes in every so often on the chorus, showcased splendidly at one point in the breakdown. There was another one (forget the song) where they do a neat pitch-shifting effect that's at once noticeable but incredibly subtle in the mix.

got 2 be the debut

tim and alfred precisely identify why contra is still my favorite but i think maybe in like a year modern vampires would be my favorite

if "Everlasting Arms" and "Hannah Hunt" keep creeping up on me like that the album will be!

Maybe I'll warm up to the new one, but for me, it's been all downhill since the debut.

finger back is definitely one of their best songs yet

this record definitely confirms they're a major band and here to stay....contra is great but basically an elaboration on the first one, this one could've been an Our Love to Admire or First Impressions of Earth...

I dunno, I feel like there's not enough pep in their sound anymore. It's languorous without being sumptuous.

see the first one still sounds as thin as it did in 2008.

All I really can say about the third one was that I was super bored halfway through the third song and turned it off.

Contra > S/T, but just barely; I like both of them a lot

new one pretty easily

alfred still speaking for me, the debut is too thin and the preppy schtick is embarrassing.

It's concise and lousy with hooks.

^^^^

Contra is weaker than the other two but I've not quite worked out which of the other two I prefer yet.

― Matt DC, Thursday, June 20, 2013 5:27 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This, but I'm leaning toward VW.

Modern Vampires has worn a bit thin for me at this point.

Contra - for being so diverse and so ingenious production and sound wise. First one is/was fun but an EP would have been enough, last one seems a bit too much like a grand statement.

Had no idea people liked Contra so much. Doesn't feel as warm as the debut, which I really enjoy the simple charm of, although it does sound great. I love the new one also, so this is very difficult. I just don't think I've had enough time to let the new one settle to pick it, so I'll go with VW.

The other important point to consider: Koenig's hair and choice of jeans immeasurably improved between the s/t and Contra, so don't imagine the improved song craft on the latter is a coincidence.

Can I ask this - Why are Vampire Weekend the twee schmindie-pop band it's okay to like? I'm seeing a lot of ilxors I'd otherwise be surprised to see on a thread like this ITT.

They write good songs.

They are good. Why would it not be okay to like a twee schmindie-pop band if they were good?

and they're not twee at all – anymore.

I like this word "schmindie."

Alfred, you always talk so much about Ezra but I'm all about their drummer.

He's not bad but he looks like he stinks of oats.

i went back and listened to the first two albums yesterday and they are closer in quality than i remember - mainly i think i was overrating contra a little in my memory. also contra had way more afropop stuff in it than i remembered, i thought they had shed that after the debut but nope.

I will say drummer > Ezra > Rostam >>>> bassist

"I Stand Corrected" is my jam from the first album. I don't think I can hear "Oxford Comma" again tbh

The singles from the first album are p much unimpeachable to me

Vampire Weekend are not your average schmindie rock band. They're more intelligent than most of them. They write better lyrics, better hooks and they actually know what they're doing. Also they're actual nerds, not just pretending to be ones to fit in their sort of genre. The genre picked them not the other way around. They're not perfect but they're way smarter and sincere than most of what's being sold as 'indie' nowadays.

VW always make me feel like I'm watching a Whit Stilman movie. And there can never be enough of that

What have you done to me you lousy lot? I haven't stopped listening to this band - all three albums - since I joined this discussion. Never would have thought I'd appreciate them much further than "meh, I guess some of the songs are alright", but here I am and it's all I want to listen to this week.

What is the reggae/dub track sampled for the drum beat on Obvious Bicycle? Definitely recognise it. There's another parallel between these and AC - Panda Bear sampled King Tubby's 'A Rougher Version' for one of the tracks on Tomboy in a very similar way.

VW always make me feel like I'm watching a Whit Stilman movie. And there can never be enough of that

well, I must say that also I find it a bit simplistic, the idea brought up by many reviews regarding the proximity between VW and Wes Anderson kinda makes sense. especially on the first album.

The comparison to Anderson insults VW.

eheh, I like them both !
But I totally agree that the links are very flimsy and the reference is mostly due to lazy journalism !

Not really seeing the Wes Anderson comparison (thank god!) - but re. Whit Stillman, for me most VW songs (either the joyful campus ones or the lost-hearts-in-the-city ones) are pure "Metropolitan"

VW and Wes Anderson's main similarity is the font.

there's also the chamber music touch !
that's why I hear it a little on the first album on which there are more that kind of arrangements.

and Wes Anderson could have directed this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_i1xk07o4g

that said, I don't want to be the one defending that comparison since I have always found it annoying !

i like the video. the landscape looks like central pennsylvania.

Can't listen to Diane Young and Worship You without drumming along.

Never listened to them before but I really like this record.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

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

surprised by the results as contra's songs seem slighter and less memorable to me than the songs on the other two. maybe i just haven't spent enough time with it.

The last 2 albums have been a bit of a disappointment for me, just a bit too low key or something. I really want to like them, but they just haven't clicked.

I think I liked them better when they sounded like Sublime.

I never really enjoyed Contra as a whole

I think you're a contra.

contra's the weakest of the three to me but i think i understand the love it gets.

yeah, i agree with that

Found a neon green post-it on the floor next to the computer with my 6 year old's best printing:
VAMPIRE
WEEK
END

Contra's got 'Horchata', 'Diplomat's Son' and especially 'White Sky' but I'm really liking the new one too. P much 180'd on this band in the last few weeks, I think they're great

neither "Diplo's Son" or "White Sky" made any impression on me

neither "Diplo's Son" or "White Sky" made any impression on me

― The Reverend, Monday, July 1, 2013 12:33 AM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol @ "Diplo's Son"

contra probably my least favourite of the three. an album that kicks off with a song as bad as "horchata" was never going to sit too well with me.

not boring enough?

naw, "Horchata" is awesome

best song on contra for me

loathed it as a single, made sense as an opener

was it ever an actual single or was it just the first thing that leaked? i thought the first single from contra was 'cousins' w/ 'giving up the gun' and (maybe?) 'holiday' as the followups. what's the highest profile vampire weekend track? 'holiday' was tied into that ad campaign but 'a-punk' was used in a ton of stuff.

i'd say their most well known track is either "a-punk" or "oxford comma"

highest charter on hot 100 is 'horchata' (go figure, i guess that answers that question), highest charter on alternative songs chart (which is what the modern rock chart is called now and i think probably is a better indicator of wider popularity/impact in this case) is 'diane young' (11), w/ 'cousins' (18) and 'a-punk' (25) behind it. biggest charters in uk are 'oxford comma' and 'cousins' barely behind it.

yeah i was gonna say cousins seemed like their biggest at the time

"a-punk" has nearly 23 million views on youtube, "cousins" 10.6m, "oxford comma" 8.6m, "giving up the gun" just under 8m.

if you combine the views for the burning car lyric video and the last supper official clip, "diane young" has a little over 4m so far.

Probably slightly distorted by the fact that (my sense is) the "A-Punk" video clip received the heaviest promotional push of any of them, by far.

That said I feel like it's their biggest as well.

"Contra" is also my least favourite. I don't think it adds much to the first one besides some arrangements/productions ideas (that are not necessarily essential), with some very good songs but overall, it's a bit undercooked, weaker and not as tight.

funny story : yesterday I was driving around and at some point, there was a nice convertible saab in front of me so the opening lyrics to "Diane young" came to my mind and at that exact moment, the song played on the radio !

ome very good songs but overall, it's a bit undercooked, weaker and not as tight.

precisely how I regard the first album

sure. i think i like the amateurism of the first album better than contra's redux of the same themes. and there are parts on contra where rostam just gets a little too crazy for my taste.

I thought the new one would walk it. They played half of it at Glastonbury (Unbelievers, Diane, Step, Ya Hey, Everlasting, Hannah) and the crowd reaction wasn't as strong but the songwriting made the earlier stuff look fun but callow.

I think Contra completely slays the first album - to me it is a very different thing than the s/t one. No way they could have done "Diplo son" and "White Taxi" at the time of their debut.

i really don't understand the fascination with diplo son--my only reaction to it ever has been "how is this still going"

that's how i feel about "I Think Ur a Contra."

The melody and hook of "Diplomat's Son" are indelible imo. I love the decision to speed up through the verse informing us that the narrator and the diplomat's son were briefly lovers.

wow never got that

which song do you mean when you say "white taxi"?

i'm going to assume "taxi cab" because "white sky" was actually written before the first LP came out

the latter actually - really? wow I stand correcetd then

haha, nice pun

funny because "white sky" is the track that sounds the most like the first album !

(and it's one of my favourites from "Contra" because of that)

Contra? Really? It's not bad or anything but I would rate it as the weakest of the three albums.

you can easily make the case for any of the three- sign of a great band!