Modern Vampires of the City Review

 Mr Worsley, I gladly accept your challenge of writing an album review :)

Modern Vampires of the City is the only Vampire Weekend record I own, but I am thoroughly convinced I spent my money wisely. No regrets, as they say.

I really like Vampire Weekends general style; there’s something that I’ve noticed in all three albums that makes them stand apart from other popular music, that can’t quite put my finger on. Maybe it’s because their songs aren’t ‘dance anthems’, or the fact that the lyrics hold more than going to parties and meeting girls in clubs? In turn, it could be that they’re a proper band, and the music isn’t just synthesised on a computer? Actually, I think it’s a combination of these factors. I really love some of Vampire Weekends older songs, like Horchata, Cousins and Oxford Comma.

But, they’re new record is just as good, I think. In some aspects, a few songs are comical, whilst others have historical and cultural elements weaved into the lyrics. Others have gloomier values, like Diane Young or ‘Dying Young’. Hannah Hunt is just plain weird. I think this variation within the album really brings something to it, so you never get bored, for want of a better word, despite the similarity of the actual music. That probably made no sense.

The vocals, from Ezra Koenig, are also (obviously) extremely important, and I think since their last album, his voice has noticeably developed and grown, and he sounds great on MVOTC, and the backing music supports his voice really well. His lyrics do tend to be somewhat ambiguous and obscure, but the overall quality of the music make up for the lack of understanding I have. I’m being honest here!

This was much harder to write than I initially anticipated, but I stuck to it and persevered, and this is what I ended up with :)