If it weren’t so catchy, Vampire Weekend’s self-titled 2008 debut might have been cloying. But all those melodic hooks, and the smart use of clattering African-style polyrhythms, helped leaven the conceit behind the idea of “Upper West Side soweto,” which otherwise threatened to become unbearably precious in a smug, preppy hipster way.

The band’s second album, “Contra” (out Jan. 12 on XL), is even stronger. These 10 songs are tighter and they dispense with the knowing can-you-believe-we’re-playing-Afro-Beat? undertone, both of which are probably a result of Vampire Weekend simply having been a band for longer. The musicians had only been playing together for a about a year when they recorded their first album; an additional two years and however many live performances have pulled the band into a more solid unit.

Like the first album, there’s plenty of twitchy, intricate guitar here: “Cousins” speeds by like an intense caffeine buzz, and “Holiday” bounces with the energy of a 6-year-old on a trampoline. The band broadens its scope, too: a synthesizer creates a subtle, understated ambiance on “Taxi Cab,” while “Diplomat’s Son” rides a backbeat with just a hint of reggaeton.

Although the title evokes (for some, at any rate) shady political dealings from the Reagan era, “Contra” isn’t so much a political statement as evidence that Vampire Weekend has grown into something more than just a buzz band with a different sound.

— Text by Eric R. Danton, photo by Soren Solkar Starbird

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January 8, 2010 at 10:07 am | Share |