Rating: 6.9/10
I find it hard to believe all the hype surrounding reviews from people I have never met. When I listened to Vampire Weekend’s self-titled debut for the umpteenth time, I thought of how differently people would view this work. I digress…
The Columbia University foursome of Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Christopher Tomson and Chris Baio filled this album with an array of African beats, classical instrumentals and lyrics entwined with the knowledge an Ivy Leaguer possesses. Without a doubt, the result is a refined compilation of well thought-out tracks. Unfortunately, the lack of consistency that many indie groups fail to capture when traveling from one recording studio to another beckons once again; this time on Vampire Weekend’s album.
Outside of the consistency drawback, key songs throughout the album string a cohesion that shows their basis for the album- classic instrumentals, such as the violin in “Bryn”, and the raw sound of Caribbean instruments, such as the djembe drum in “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”. This fusion between classical and Caribbean jamming avoids any repetition on the album, albeit it still doesn’t mesh cleanly together.
Opening up, “Mansford Roof” plays a teetering drum tapping set while Koenig almost carelessly buzzes to the beat. “Oxford Comma” follows with a much slower keyboard and drum-edge rapping rhythm. The third track, “A-Punk”, which plays to its name, refreshes fond memories of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater soundtrack riffs, which never seem to wear out. The thumping background bass and up-front electric guitar strumming truly are punk, but I can’t remember a flute in those songs.
From this point in the album, the tempo decreases and the songs carry far less energy. “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” mentions how “it feels so natural, Peter Gabriel”, but the real influence to this track could be linked to New Jersey native Paul Simon’s “Graceland” or “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”. “M79” continues this down-tempo trend, as a slow bass and sporadic guitar-plucking draw this song out to what feels like a long 4:15. Although hardly slow, “Campus” rids itself of the African influence and instead mimics some of the energy that “A-Punk” showed, except without the cut-loose mentality that punk songs entail.
Any bumps in the album are soon forgotten with “Bryn” at track seven. As Vampire Weekend’s most harmonious song, it switches its pace several times from a humdrum drum-based melody to its signature violin-laden refrain. Not only did this song transition well, the lyrics were simple, easy to remember and heart-warming.
The last four tracks on this album didn’t stick out. Perhaps “Walcott” could be considered catchy, but it once again lacked the energy that finely adjusted albums maintain. “One (Blake’s Got a New Face)” came across as annoying because of its most annoying noise in the world type high-pitched singing while “I Stand Corrected” and “The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance” slowly lulled the album to its end.
Koenig’s linguistics, although snappy and fresh with a myriad of new jargon, seem overly sophisticated for such a simple album. His singing style caters to whatever the tempo is although he is rarely heard singing in any solo fashion. He pronounced very clearly and his vocal highlights included “A-Punk” and “Walcott”, both in which he diverted from his straight down the center singing.
Although this album could be the best album of the year for some, I found it incomplete. The lyrics were more riddled with more unknown words than the Vulgate version of the Bible while the constant switching between the African and contemporary sounds hurt the album’s ability to be played cleanly through. The tracks are well done. To each its own, but as a whole this album failed to muster enough gusto to remain in my ears.
The Columbia University foursome of Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Christopher Tomson and Chris Baio filled this album with an array of African beats, classical instrumentals and lyrics entwined with the knowledge an Ivy Leaguer possesses. Without a doubt, the result is a refined compilation of well thought-out tracks. Unfortunately, the lack of consistency that many indie groups fail to capture when traveling from one recording studio to another beckons once again; this time on Vampire Weekend’s album.
Outside of the consistency drawback, key songs throughout the album string a cohesion that shows their basis for the album- classic instrumentals, such as the violin in “Bryn”, and the raw sound of Caribbean instruments, such as the djembe drum in “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”. This fusion between classical and Caribbean jamming avoids any repetition on the album, albeit it still doesn’t mesh cleanly together.
Opening up, “Mansford Roof” plays a teetering drum tapping set while Koenig almost carelessly buzzes to the beat. “Oxford Comma” follows with a much slower keyboard and drum-edge rapping rhythm. The third track, “A-Punk”, which plays to its name, refreshes fond memories of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater soundtrack riffs, which never seem to wear out. The thumping background bass and up-front electric guitar strumming truly are punk, but I can’t remember a flute in those songs.
From this point in the album, the tempo decreases and the songs carry far less energy. “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” mentions how “it feels so natural, Peter Gabriel”, but the real influence to this track could be linked to New Jersey native Paul Simon’s “Graceland” or “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”. “M79” continues this down-tempo trend, as a slow bass and sporadic guitar-plucking draw this song out to what feels like a long 4:15. Although hardly slow, “Campus” rids itself of the African influence and instead mimics some of the energy that “A-Punk” showed, except without the cut-loose mentality that punk songs entail.
Any bumps in the album are soon forgotten with “Bryn” at track seven. As Vampire Weekend’s most harmonious song, it switches its pace several times from a humdrum drum-based melody to its signature violin-laden refrain. Not only did this song transition well, the lyrics were simple, easy to remember and heart-warming.
The last four tracks on this album didn’t stick out. Perhaps “Walcott” could be considered catchy, but it once again lacked the energy that finely adjusted albums maintain. “One (Blake’s Got a New Face)” came across as annoying because of its most annoying noise in the world type high-pitched singing while “I Stand Corrected” and “The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance” slowly lulled the album to its end.
Koenig’s linguistics, although snappy and fresh with a myriad of new jargon, seem overly sophisticated for such a simple album. His singing style caters to whatever the tempo is although he is rarely heard singing in any solo fashion. He pronounced very clearly and his vocal highlights included “A-Punk” and “Walcott”, both in which he diverted from his straight down the center singing.
Although this album could be the best album of the year for some, I found it incomplete. The lyrics were more riddled with more unknown words than the Vulgate version of the Bible while the constant switching between the African and contemporary sounds hurt the album’s ability to be played cleanly through. The tracks are well done. To each its own, but as a whole this album failed to muster enough gusto to remain in my ears.
0 Comments:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
