While eagerly awaiting the release of this album, I began thinking about what Vampire Weekend means to me. I loved their first two albums -- with their self-titled debut being a true soundtrack to my summer when it was released. I've seen them in concert more than any other band, save Death Cab and Passion Pit. And yet I never really classified them as one of my favorite bands. Well, today that officially changes. Their new album is streaming on iTunes this week before it's released and it was enough of an event that I shut off the Sox game, tuned out Brig and dusted off my music reviews. So here it goes...
It's different. If you've been following the songs they've released ahead of time you would know this already; I am simply confirming that it is album-wide. Where their first two albums were more immediate in drawing you in, Modern Vampires of the City is a grower. And I love it. The album is heavily focused on aging and death. It's no accident that lead single Diane Young sounds a lot like 'dying young'. And take a look at the cover art. That is a photograph of NYC on its smoggiest day in history back in 1966 when 169 people were killed.*
Of course, when I call it a grower I am also intimating that the band is growing as well. They are trying out new techniques (a lot of vocal distortions, interesting drum parts) in addition to their "mature" lyrics about the passage of time. As always, Ezra's word play is in fine form and I only understood about 20% of the references which sounds about right.** (Also, not at all related but I feel obligated to link to Ezra's random cameo on Girls this season.)
I advise you to head to iTunes right now and give it a listen. I know people are into singles right now but it's only 43 minutes. Fine, fine, if I had to shortlist a couple songs to get you hooked into the rest of the album then I'd say Diane Young (linked above), Ya Hey and Unbelievers. Enjoy!
*Mad Men referenced this same occurrence in an episode last season.
**They did go to Columbia after all.
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