When you think about Vampire Weekend, what adjectives come to mind?
Musty? Sparse? Swampy?
If not, then you obviously haven't heard their newest album yet.
To me, Vampire Weekend has always been that fun indie band that cute girls also like to listen to; I've never given them the credit they deserve. Even after Contra, which I was not anticipating at all, and came as a real surprise that this band was not a one-album-wonder.
A couple weeks ago I heard Vampire Weekend had a third album coming out, and I just shrugged it off, consumed by the Daft Hype of the past month. Once it was released, it didn't show up on Google Play, so I figured "eh, no loss".
However, I kept reading online how great this album is. The fans of this album seemed in awe, with superlatives stating that this album should win a grammy, and they seemed almost a little annoyed that Daft Hype had kind of covered this album up.
So, Google-be-damned, I pirated this album as I could wait no longer.
And guys, this album is really really fucking good. On first listen, I was immediately struck with the catchy-as-hell melodies. The melodies are familiar enough to sing along to, but still inventive enough to sound fresh. The song writing is really the core of what makes this album so damn good. But on top of that, Vampire Weekend uses some really interesting recording techniques that give this album a certain flavor.
The album sounds like the band is playing for an art show in a large, mostly empty warehouse, and the guests are neither interested in the art or the music. There are moments where there are actually sounds of a crowd talking over the band playing. The microphone sounds like it is in the middle of the room between the band and the crowd, so neither are picked up like they are the foreground of what we should be hearing.
I am sure I could try to go in-depth on how this lends towards Vampire Weekend's desire to return to a time when they were 4 dudes making great music that no one really wanted to hear. And I did read a Rolling Stone article that hinted towards Vampire Weekend's own surprise toward their popularity, but that kind of shit makes for boring articles (take note, Rolling Stone. Kyle's blog is the wave of the future).
Instead I will just talk about the snare drum. In "Step", we have muted harmonizing open the song (white noise in the background) and then the snare cracks in at full volume like an exclamation point, followed by a quaint harpsichord line. This contrast in volumes and energy really makes this song stand out for me. The whole thing has this motion to it that you can not help but sway to. And in "Hannah Hunt", easily the moment in the record where you realize you are listening to a masterfully written record, you have the almost restrained singing from Ezra, followed by a leading piano riff, and BAM--snare drum! Ezra comes back, screaming desperately the same lines he's been singing the whole song, but this time there are tears streaming down my face.
It's really hard to describe why this pop album is better than others. It's like The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, or Fleet Foxes' Helplessness Blues: what is it about the melodies on these albums that make them "good" pop songs? Is it all just a matter of opinion, or is there some mathematics at play here that makes certain combinations of melodies just a nose above the others?
I hope you didn't want an answer to that, because I sure don't know. I can tell you to listen to Modern Vampires of the City, though. Perhaps we can better understand what makes a perfect pop record by listening to one.
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