album/concert review: Vampire Weekend: Contra

After their entrance into the indie music world in 2007, Vampire Weekend quickly became one of the most buzzed about - and argued about - bands of the decade. Were they intelligent musicians crafting energetic, exceedingly catchy songs, or were they simply preppy New England students whose riffs and melodies stole unabashedly from Paul Simon's Graceland? It was a question that many felt would be answered by the group's second album, Contra, which arrived nearly two years to the day after the release of their debut.

But Contra is an odd album. It doesn't mark any great development or change in sound for the band (if anything, the Graceland comparisons are even more applicable here than on the debut, though the jerky, frantic guitar and the hyper-kinetic drums of single "Cousins" owe more to Drums And Wires-era XTC than anything Simon ever put to record), which means that it won't win over the so-called "haters;" at the same time, however, the songs are weaker and considerably less accessible, which means that the fans of the self-titled album - especially those with high expectations - will walk away from the album without much of a desire to return to it. Instead, Contra seems to be for those in the middle: those who consider Vampire Weekend to be fun and enjoyable, and don't hold much of an opinion any other way.

For, when it comes down to it, the majority of these songs are fine. The chorus of "White Sky" allows lead singer Ezra Koenig to leap around in his falsetto like a monkey from branch to branch, "Giving Up The Gun" rides along on a driving, incessant synth rhythm before sliding into a gradually-building bridge with a startlingly beautiful melody, and "I Think Ur A Contra" closes the album with a mix of late-night pianos and thumping tribal percussion. But the songs rarely ever rise above just fine, and the tracks which fall beneath that mark - "Taxi Ride," with its frustratingly sparse and uninventive instrumentation, and "Run," whose instrumental chorus contains a synth line most 80s bands wouldn't even go near - are almost embarrassingly weak.

As part of a kick-off for releasing the new album, the band gave a brief, free outdoor concert at London's Somerset Hall, performing on a column-lined balcony overlooking an ice-skating rink and a courtyard crammed full of fans, many of whom had learned about the concert through word of mouth. The band tore through a ten-song setlist with admirable abandon and energy, making sure to play a number of highlights from their debut in addition to tracks from Contra. Unfortunately, though, it was a show that was plagued with problems: firstly, the band came on thirty minutes late, to the displeasure of many of the spectators left standing in the cold. The already-unnessecarry autotune on "California English" was exaggerated to almost exasperating levels. And halfway through "Horchata," the second-to-last song, the speakers in the courtyard failed completely, leaving the band to blast the sound as loud as possible from the balcony for closer "Walcott." Nonetheless, the band made up for most of the shortcomings with their zeal and their performance, making for a relatively engaging forty minutes. And much like their new album, the show confirmed what their debut suggested: that Vampire Weekend are fun, diverting, and not much more than that.

Track picks: "Cousins," "Giving Up The Gun"

Contra score: 65
Concert score: 70