Vampire Weekend Mordern Vampires of the City

Release date 22-05-2013

2013 EU issue on standard LP-Modern Vampires of the City is the third album from New York's Vampire Weekend. including the singles "Diane Young", "Step", "Unbelievers", "Finger Back", "Worship You". 

The album is a bustling world of voices and visions - from the death of Henry Hudson to the Orthodox girl falling in love at an uptown falafel shop, from Hannah Hunt tearing up the New York Times on a distant beach to the lethal chandelier of “Everlasting Arms," from the ardent yearning of “Don’t Lie” to the harmonized voice of hope in “Young Lion.”

For the 12-song album, Rostam Batmanglij and Ezra Koenig traveled to LA to collaborate with Rostam’s longtime friend, and fellow producer, Ariel Rechtshaid. They brought with them writing and recording sessions from New York and Martha’s Vineyard and began to stride towards realizing the finished album and were later joined by drummer Chris Tomson and bassist Chris Baio.

Drums and bass were recorded to analog tape at Vox Studios. Built in the 1930’s, it’s one of the oldest privately owned studios in Los Angeles. Those parts were then reintegrated with the sessions and further manipulated to create a synthesis of sound and tone, both old and new. Modern Vampires of the City has a sense of grandeur and romanticism evocative of the city where it was conceived.

Tracks:
A1. Obvious Bicycle
A2. Unbelievers
A3. Step
A4. Diane Young
A5. Don’t Lie
A6. Hannah Hunt

B1. Everlasting Arms
B2. Finger Back
B3. Worship You
B4. Ya Hey
B5. Hudson
B6. Young Lion

At the time of its release, Modern Vampires of the City was touted as a "deeper" offering from Vampire Weekend. While that's true to an extent, it downplays the equally heartfelt and clever songs on their first two albums. What is undeniable is that Modern Vampires is a lot less obviously showy than the band's previous work.


They trade in Contra's bright eclecticism for a less audacious production style and smaller instrumental palette: guitar, organ, harpsichord, and the occasional sample combine into a rarefied sound that suggests a more introspective version of their debut, and the band bookends the album with some of its most literal and insular chamber pop on "Obvious Bicycle" and "Young Lion." Modern Vampires' quieter approach also showcases what might be most enduring about Vampire Weekend's music -- endearing melodies and carefully crafted lyrics. It also fits Ezra Koenig's preoccupations on this set of songs, chief among them the fact that we're all going to die. The band sums up all of this brilliantly on "Step," where the music's hip-hop beats and harpsichords reflect the allusions to Souls of Mischief and growing pains in Koenig's lyrics. Elsewhere, Vampire Weekend tones down the quirks that may have polarized listeners before; songs like "Everlasting Arms" and "Unbelievers" walk the fine line between cheery and grating so well that they could win over those who previously found them too peppy and preppy. Similarly, Modern Vampires of the City's political allusions are also subtler than they were on Contra, where the band brandished them like college students all too willing to display their awareness of current events: Koenig sounds offhanded when he sings "though we live on the US dollar/We got our own sense of time" on "Hannah Hunt," and even the album's most overtly political song, the darkly verbose "Hudson," adopts a more historical stance as it incorporates everything from 17th century explorers, pre-war apartments, and exclusive New York neighborhoods into its meditations on fate versus free will. Of course, Vampire Weekend can't completely stifle their exuberance, and the album's louder moments stand out even more vibrantly against the subdued ones. "Diane Young"'s brash, buzzy mix of doo wop, surf, and punk feels like a nod to Contra as well as Billy Joel's "You May Be Right," and Koenig sings "I don't wanna live like this, but I don't wanna die" with so much joy on "Finger Back" that it celebrates life as much as it contemplates mortality. Ultimately, Modern Vampires of the City is more thoughtful than it is dark, balancing its more serious moments with a lighter touch and more confidence than they've shown before. Even if Koenig and company fear getting old, maturity suits them well..ALLMUSIC GUIDE

Credits
Bass Chris Baio
Drums Chris Tomson
Engineer Dave Schiffman Michael Harris Nick Rowe
Engineer Producer Mixed By Ariel Rechtshaid tracks A1 A5B8 B11 B12
Mixed By Engineer Rostam Batmanglij tracks A1 A5B8 B11 B12
WrittenBy Music Rostam Batmanglij
WrittenBy Vocals Ezra Koenig