Vampire Weekend - Contra

Vampire Weekend - Contra

I must admit I didn't pay much attention to Vampire Weekend's debut self-titled album and it was more through boredom than anything else that I decided to listen to new album, Contra. It's turning out to be one of the best decisions I've made this year.

Getting straight to the point, from start to finish Contra is an absolute triumph. From the tribal stomping opener Horchata to the down tempo piano tinkler Taxi Cab, it seems no instrument is safe from Vampire Weekend. Synth is everywhere, marimbas, piano, surf-guitar, afro-beat percussion and drenching string sessions stirred together with odd yet clever lyrics (rhyming "horchata" with "balaclava" for example...) propel them into even higher echelons of eccentricity.

At every turn it certainly is baffling how this record actually works. It's a direction fusion of processed 808 beats and natural world music and ska. But maybe it's for this exact reason the record does work. It's almost as if Vampire Weekend have said enough is enough to the tried and tested indie formulas that have seen lists of bands longer than both my arms come to prominence in the UK, and have gone so far the other way to making a record of such breezy enthusiasm it literally makes you feel like your are 1000 miles away from anything at all.

Like any polarizing band, there will be plenty of grumblings from anti-VW'enders but the fact remains that this will be a hugely successful record and even with it's January 11th release date, will be a sure fire certainty for every 2010 top album list.

9/10

Listen to one of my recommended tracks, Run, below...