Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (Album)
The first thing that strikes me from this New York bands’ release is its mood. It comes with sunshine pouring from it and I’ve found unexplained rainbows emanate from my stereo as I play it. There is so much warm weather that comes out of this album that with mass purchasing of this CD, El Nino may make a comeback. Despite my conviction in this albums ability to change weather patterns though, I still feel that its release is 3 months too late to fully appreciate this release it needs to be listened to during warm weather. This would have been a perfect release for summer. It has Saturday afternoon beers at the local written all over it. No, even better, it has a slept in Sunday morning till lunch-time, walk around in your undies cause it’s too hot to put clothes on, open the fridge see that there’s no food about then decide it’s better to just go to Mick's house (everyone knows a Mick), buy some KFC on the way and sit in a luke warm kiddie pool for the rest of the afternoon feel about it. I just want to put an umbrella in it and drink it from a coconut.
Now, to put this album in perspective- in case you think I’m reviewing the latest sexy house dance CD- this band comprises of, from what I can hear, drums/programmed beats, guitars of some varieties, keyboards and possibly some sort of 80’s Casio device and woodwind instruments, or at least something that makes those sounds. Occasional bongos and some basic lead vocals over the top and you pretty much have it. Quirky instrumentation and song structures, its poppy, has pleasant melodies and sounds more often than not that small woodland creatures are performing it with their little fairy friends in fields of daisies and toadstools. There are 11 songs and the whole album runs for just 34 minutes. They call that in the industry a quickie, and most songs on the album, if you do your math (come on, remember long division?) run for about 2 and a half minutes. Nothing wrong with that at all, in fact that just further plants the album into poolside soundtrack territory. Nothing serious or pretentious about it. Songs get to the point right away and it gives a refreshing taste to the whole thing. There a few stand out tracks like the opener Mansard Roof and A Punk, which are upbeat and a little dancey. Then there are a few reggae moments like ‘The kids don’t stand a chance’ and then a little bit Caribbean with Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.
Although this album is quirky, happy and all those other sunny adjectives it doesn’t really come across as a dance album at all. The songs are boppy but I couldn’t imagine dancing at a gig to them. Unless of course, it was at a festival like the St Jerome’s Laneway festival. It’s that mid 20’s to early 30 something types who can’t really stand the loud music of The Big Day Out anymore and competing with the kids for water but still enjoy live music at a respectable volume and occasionally wobble their hips to boppy tunes while sipping a glass of red. They’re not married or buying houses just yet but are just enjoying the money they are earning from real jobs they’ve recently acquired and like to dress in expensive clothes made to look old, rustic and trendy rather than waste time in op shops to find real ones. So, back to the album I feel that having it as a soundtrack to an afternoon party it’s perfect, but listening to the album a few times it does not work as a sing along or dance album to listen to on headphones exclusively. In fact it works best when you put it on and forget about it. You don’t get drawn into it with the catchy hit single that makes you sing to it that you eventually get so sick of that you never listen to it again and it covers your home or wherever you listen to it with a fine film of glitter. And that’s just lovely.
