Vampire Weekend's Contra.

By Jaymie Baxley

Artist: Vampire Weekend

Album: Contra

Label: XL

Released: 1/12/10

Vampire Weekend’s sophomore effort, Contra, is just as good as its breakthrough predecessor, if a little less revelatory. When the NYC band’s self titled debut was released in the beginning of 2008, the blogosphere was immediately smitten by the album’s charming mixture of dorky, Paul Simon referencing global pop and jangly, hipster friendly indie rock, mainstream publications like Spin and Rolling Stone took notice shortly after. Sadly, wet behind the ears buzz bands have yet to find a cure for the inevitable blogger backlash that follows surprise success. Most upstarts respond swiftly by applying the eyeliner and forcing a moody disposition, others take ill-advised detours into the avant-garde but, after an inspirational pep talk from their mothers, Vampire Weekend opted to ignore the acidic jeers emitting from the peanut gallery and decided to stick to their guns.

Altogether less ramshackle and more nuanced than its predecessor, Contra (no discernible political agenda here, the title is merely a playful dig at the Clash’s Sandinista) still consists of sparkly, world-tinged pop songs. The wispy marimbas in opener “Horchata” set the tone for the duration of the album. Elsewhere, “Giving up the Gun” throbs and sweeps like a lost New Order ballad. “Diplomat’s Son,” Contra’s strongest offering, samples M.I.A.’s “Hussel” and recalls the Clash’s “Straight to Hell” (a song M.I.A. herself famously sampled on her hit “Paper Planes”) in that it sounds like a night in the jungle. The rollicking first single “Cousins” lends the album some forward momentum (the band recently performed “Cousins” live on the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, but you were probably distracted by O’Brien’s heated showdown with NBC). Front man Ezra Koenig has shaken his lyrical fixation with campus living, stretching the band’s appeal beyond the university set and Contra’s songs are more immersive and ambitious than those featured on the band’s self-titled debut.

It may be too early to tell, but we predict that if Vampire Weekend continue to refine their craft with each subsequent release, the group will survive bandwagon abandonment. So far so good.

RANK: 4/5

Essential Tracks: “Diplomat’s Son,” “Giving Up the Gun” and “California English.”