Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires Of The City

Source: Vampire Weekend

And so they return! With much rejoicing from my corner, because I love Vampire Weekend. No point in beating around the bush. This new album bears much more resemblance to Contra, featuring more pop-y sounds rather than their self-titled first album, which was more Paul Simon with a 2008 twist. However, there may be a resemblance to the last album, but this one is by no means along the same vein. It's much darker, much more introspective, as though they sat down having a good old bitch session about all the shit that happened to them in the three years since Contra was released. Whatever they did, it worked because this is genuinely their best album yet. It's gaining popularity, having debuted at Number 1 in the charts and sold 134,000 copies and counting. The proof is in the pudding.

The pace is much slower than their previous two albums, although they deliver the dancing goods in Diane Young. The official stream of the video before the album's release caused a fair amount of controversy; it pictured two burning 900-series Saabs as the infectious track played over the top of the visual - to anyone confused by this, the first lyric is "you torched a Saab like a pile of leaves". They received a huge amount of criticism from loving Saab owners; one Jalopnik article carried the headline "Vampire Weekend Are a Bunch of Dicks". All this for burning a couple of old, disused cars with, as frontman Ezra Koenig acknowledged in an interview with Spinner, "a lot of electrical problems".

The song, as a brilliant combination of rock and the pop melodies of previous tracks like Giving Up The Gun, is utterly deserving of the debate surrounding the ethics of its video. All good music should generate some sort of controversy, or you're doing something wrong. They experiment properly with vocal effects for the first time in the bridge, and the pitch fluctuations add that unmistakable Vampire Weekend touch. Not that it's their typical sound, but it exhibits their flair at exploring musical mediums and how to adapt them to their advantage.

The content of the songs has become much more thoughtful and grown-up, especially in the way that they approach their own material; a good example of this is Hudson. It references the recent economic crisis in Europe, saying "we watched the Germans play the Greeks". Their ability to make heavy topics such as these seem poetic and lyrical is a testament to their abilities. It's also the first song that they've ever written in a minor key. This in itself is a milestone, as it shows that Vampire Weekend aren't just there for the good times, they're there when you need a hug from Ezra Koenig's voice. Something we all need at one time or another.

Source: Huffington Post

Modern Vampires Of The City seems to be a significant move away from their image as posh boys living in a bubble of privilege and Lacoste shirts. This is done in very subtle ways, such as mispronouncing "we worshipped you" to make it "we worshopped you" in Worship You. They open with a slightly slower song, Obvious Bicycle, contrasting the other albums which opened with catchier, dancier tunes like Mansard Roof and Horchata. As I said before, the pace is much slower, but the ebbs and flows of the different songs allows for a much more mature and thoughtful side of Vampire Weekend to come through. They've always been very intellectual in their approach to songs (one particularly good example is Oxford Comma) but here it's much more exposed, much more open. Ya Hey's biblical imagery and the failures of  America's capitalist attitude provides a bittersweet outlook on modern life.

Not only have Vampire Weekend themselves changed, but the music has changed with them. The use of a drum machine as well as a live drum kit makes Chris Tomson's drumming so much more interesting to listen to and adds texture and feel to the songs. The decision to bring in Ariel Rechtshaid as co-producer with band member Rotsam Batmanglij has benefited them hugely; the change has allowed Vampire Weekend to grow more as artists.

I can't sing their praises enough. This album is brilliant. They are brilliant. And if you don't think so after listening to this album, you don't deserve to own it.

Rating: 10/10

Recommended Tracks:
Unbelievers
Step
Everlasting Arms

Leopard

Birmingham is on a serious roll this year. Having churned out bands like Peace, Superfood, JAWS and Swim Deep, to mention just a few, they've given birth to Leopard, "a 4 piece post jazz core, acid, baggy Korean, crabmetal, grunge destroyers." I interviewed guitarist Matthew Jenkins, who says of their style, "musically, we have no idea what we sound like, but people seem to like it." Why wouldn't you? To me, they sound like Arctic Monkeys jamming with Foxygen on some far off and exotic beach; their single Breathe gives off a chilled, relaxed vibe, added to by the distant vocals and the easygoing drum beat.



All of the new Birmingham bands seem to be very close and supportive of each other; "we met at one of the above mentioned gigs and that's how we formed Leopard. It's really weird being on the whole "in circle", everyone's so nice about stuff. It's odd, people who may not like your music still appreciate it and appreciate success." There definitely seems to be that sort of familial aspect to the B-Town music scene. All of the bands go to each others gigs, promote each others tracks and party together like there's no tomorrow. Just check Swim Deep's twitter feed and you'll see what I mean.


On the subject of the current music industry, Jenkins becomes very vocal; when I asked him what he thought about the digitisation of the music industry, he says "It's definitely a lot easier to get your music heard by people through Soundcloud and other services. I think it works both ways; both unsigned and signed bands want the same thing and that's just to get your music heard." He maintains that there definitely are real rock icons of the newest musical generation - "not strictly rock, but definitely Dev Hynes, aka Lightning Champion or Blood Orange. There's loads, it's just not obvious to enough people." When I asked him what could be done to fix this, he said "people just need to get outside their box and go to see bands every week." Simple as.

I wanted to know if Leopard felt any responsibility, as a new band, to improve on the musical trends from what the previous generation had achieved, and the reply I received was very pragmatic and considered; "to a certain extent, yes, but generally if you start writing music, it'll have its own features and elements that that make itself unique, even if you get compared to previous bands. Music works in cycles." This shows an observational and measured approach to the way that Leopard approach writing music, as seen in their newest single Quick History. The way that the track builds gradually throughout and the way that the original drum pattern is adapted whilst still maintaining the original feel reflects this notion of music working in cycles; the original motifs are returned to with a tweak here and there, making the track better for it.



As a blogger, it's very interesting to investigate the background to a band - their influences, the way that they view themselves. For Matt, the artist that has the most influence on their sound is "Kevin Parker from Tame Impala. Jake's would probably be Dave Grohl." Candidly, he adds, "no idea about the other two!", and if he could travel back in time to watch one epic gig it would be "Jimmy Hendrix at the Isle of Wight, but there are too many to pick from."

Forget all the musical stuff, this is what really recommends them to me as a band: if they could choose one movie to sum up their sound, it would "probably be the Iron Giant. I'm only saying that because I want to watch it again and because we're a big hunk of metal with attitude and super heroes." Can't say fairer than that.

As all new bands are attempting to do, Leopard are clearly trying to find their footing in the musical world. If they keep on in the same vein, however, they're certain to find success. Their sound is the complete opposite of their diplomatic mannerisms; it's loud, brash an unashamedly awesome.

Rating: 9/10

Recommended tracks:
All of the above, seeing as they're the only ones they've released.