Vampire Weekend’s 2007’s self-titled album received polarized responses with very few left in the middle ground. It was either detested with hipster-hating rage or embraced as quirky indie-rock. Whichever side of the battle you found yourself on, a general consensus was that the album seemed more of an in-process wordplay than the result of a progressive exploration.
But even among the band’s dissidents, Vampire Weekend’s latest album, “Contra,” is seen as a significant step up from its first attempt. The gestalt of the album seems appropriately engineered for both the intent musical analyst — as it’s lyrically rich — and likewise workable as mindless white noise.
The tracks incorporate random elements and blend clever, careful wordplay with pseudo-intellectual namechecking. The lyrics cover everything from feudal Japan (“Your Tokugawa smile/And your garbage style/Used to save the night”) to a typeface (“She’d never seen the word BOMBS blown up/To 96 point Futura”) and natural toothpaste (“But she use real toothpaste/Cuz if that Tom’s don’t work/If it just makes you worse/Would you loose all of you faith in the good Earth?”).
“Horchata” starts the album with mellow Caribbean-inspired electro beats that layer and evolve as the song progresses. The drumbeats that follow the chorus provide a pleasant contrast with both the toy piano accompaniments and the beat drop-off after it ends. It makes it a prime opening track to set the album’s pace.
“White Sky” initiates with a curious Tetris-like beat — appropriate, given the retro-gaming title of the album. It also successfully blends musical elements. “Holiday” is audibly more tame in comparison, but it is still chock-full of brilliant wording.
In a word, “California English” is weird, but in the best of ways. Never would it seem that the contrast of Auto-Tuned lyrics and orchestral melodies would mesh, but it synthesizes for an enjoyable sound fused with a rolling, playful drumbeat woven throughout the track.
“Taxi Cab” is a cooldown from the anxious, playful pace of the previous track, and the toy piano returns with a vengeance. Despite the subdued pace, the lyrics reveal something significantly less childlike and naive: “You’re not a victim/But neither am I/Nostalgic for garbage/Desperate for time/I could blame it on your mother’s head/Or the colors that you father wears/But I know that I was never fair/You were always fine.” The words come like moments-too-late-thoughts — the sort of familiar mind fodder that only comes once a relationship has crumbled.
“Run” seems like a continuation of this same runaway train of thought, but bends itself into a slightly more upbeat theme. The rest of the album is just as solid. And although VW’s cunning lyrics seem compulsory — like they’re trying a bit too hard to come up with another word for one they’ve already used — “Contra” demonstrates a polished, clever charm. Vampire Weekend still possesses a sharp delineation between the lovers and haters, but both may admit “Contra” is a tuned and developed composition of musical and lyrical fun. It stays true to the band’s unique quirky and playful sound.
The album was released Jan. 12, and is available streaming for free at the band’s Web site (http://www.vampireweekend.com).