My Top 100 Albums: #88 - Vampire Weekend, ‘Contra’
88.
Vampire Weekend, ‘Contra’
XL Recordings, 2010
With this follow-up to their eponymous 2008 debut, uncoolest-band-that-it’s-cool-to-like Vampire Weekend cemented their place in indie rock canon with some exceptional songwriting. This was no mean feat considering the pressures of maintaining momentum following their meteoric rise to the mainstream, and the herculean task of keeping on top of their various influences and styles. Nonetheless, Contra manages to showcase the band’s outrageously diverse sound - with elements of world music, baroque pop, alternative rock and art pop - whilst feeling for the first time that the band was carving out a unique area of the indie rock sector for their own. The key to Vampire Weekend’s success, and how they’ve maintained their inimitable style in the decade following this release, is their focus on rhythm. Whether it’s the African drum beats on the likes of California English or the alberti bass harpsichord rhythm on Horchata, the strong rhythmic quality to their music is ever-present. In this regard, Rostam Batmanglij (the band’s lead creative force alongside frontman Ezra Koenig) is something of a one-man rhythm section. Vampire Weekend’s music is notable for its dense and diverse instrumentation, and Batmanglij plays many of these instruments himself, from the array of keyboard instruments to the signature Yamaha VSS-30 synthesiser that punctuates this album, and he even picks up the guitar for the more traditional alternative rock songs Cousins and Giving Up The Gun. He is also responsible for most of the production on this record. Batmanglij’s mastery of rhythm and production, then, alongside Koenig’s lyrics and melodies, contribute to the development of a rich, distinguished sound, with Contra being, arguably, the ultimate product of this creative partnership, reaching No. 1 on the US Billboard album charts. Batmanglij would later leave the band to focus on his work as a producer, but in Contra he leaves behind a more-than-solid songwriting legacy.
Hidden Highlight: Diplomat’s Son
Horchata
White Sky
Holiday
California English
Taxi Cab
Run
Cousins
Giving Up The Gun
Diplomat’s Son
I Think Ur A Contra