Thursday 21 January 2010



QBiM SPiNS: Vampire Weekend, Contra

I think I wanted to hate Contra because I got my hand slapped for posting “Cousins” when I wasn’t supposed to.  First off, I didn’t like the song as much as I loved “Horchata”, so that didn’t bode well for the album as a whole, and secondly, who the hell did Vampire Weekend think they were?  I was doing them a favour, wasn’t I?  The blog talk didn’t sound good for Contra, with lots of snickering and disdain for the preppy Afro-poseurs, so any publicity–especially positive press–should have been appreciated.  They should have thanked me. It looked like the inevitable second-album-backlash mob was sharpening their swords and waxing their whips (or whatever you do to get a whip ready to, er whip).

So here I am, with a full Contra hate-on going, arms tightly crossed, smirk firmly in place,ready to let the backlash and volleys of evil laughter at Vampire Weekend.  I’ll give them “Horchata”, okay, ’cause like I said, I freakin’ love that song! but that’s all they’re going to get out of me!  I will not surrender!  Let the battle begin!

I’m listening to “White Sky” and it’s thumping away with it’s lyric-less chorus bouncing between my headphones like a headless chicken spewing confetti out of it’s neck and I can’t keep my head from bopping back and forth.  I’m faring no better during “Holiday”, and am questioning what’s going to happen by the time I reach “Giving Up the Gun,” a song whose infectious power I’ve been warned about.

“Taxi Cab” finally makes me crumble into a weeping heap on the floor.  It’s a gorgeous ballad and an unexpectedly poignant moment on what’s been an overtly upbeat and bouncy record so far.  Contra is more of a Vampire Weekend album then Vampire Weekend ever was.  It unapologetically embraces all the qualities that made us enthuse about that early EP (with “A-Punk” and “Oxford Comma”) and ups the ante to the point of over-saturation.  Awash in tribal rhythms and kalimbas, there is hardly a sour note on the entire record.

I still don’t like “Cosuins,” but in the context of the album as a whole, it’s not as annoying as I made it out to be originally.  So, though I wanted to hate Contra, I hate myself for wanting to hate it more.  There’s a reason why the blogiverse went haywire for them way back whenever, and it had nothing to do with telepathic mind-control signals coming from the beats and rhythms.  We went ape-shit for Vampire Weekend because not even in our wildest, most fanciful imaginations could we ever have come up with such a perfect sounding band.  Damn you Vampire Weekend, for making me love you!

Now, about that new Arcade Fire album…

MP3: Vampire Weekend “Horchata”
Myspace: Vampire Weekend





by J. Di Gioia | 2 Comments »

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 21st, 2010 at 11:30 am and is filed under MP3, QBiM SPiNS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “QBiM SPiNS: Vampire Weekend, Contra”

Tim McIntyre January 21st, 2010 at 5:14 pm

With you all the way. I didn’t have high hopes, but it totally exceeded my expectations.

Chris January 25th, 2010 at 7:24 am

Contra is a great album, bit of a grower, I’m not a big fan of ‘Cousins’ either. First album from a UK indie label to hit number 1 in the US for 19 years check it out http://bit.ly/6t6KqU which is pretty cool.