Today..

I'd like to talk about Vampire Weekend's album, in some circles I believe it is called Contra.

Firstly, I''d like to say fair play to the lads from NYC I think they have shown good progress from their first EP. That's usually all I ask for when listening to anybody's second album, it shows they have a fair bit of talent and they want to get better, rather than just sit on their arses milking the fame.

Sadly, another album released in the springtime with some strange winterness going on "In December drinking horchata.." is the first line. The good news is it simply just gets better from that point onwards. Of course the first (Counsins) and second (Giving Up The Gun) singles taken from this album are highlights. They are just so upbeat and feel quite fresh, even after listening to them for a few times. Also Cousins happens to have a fairly awesome tempo to it.

This album is just great to listen to on a sunny day, with a nice refreshing (alcoholic) beverage to hand, a few friends and the satisfying smell of BBQ. In this situation you can sort of fade in and out of listening to it and just catch wonderful little snippets of lyrics such as "Dad was a risk taker, his was a shoe maker, you, greatest hits 2006 little list maker.".

My only real criticism of this fine selection of vibrations is it sort of peters out towards the end, the last couple of songs (Dimplomat's Son and I Think You're A Contra) are a bit slow and downbeat. Some people will probably say that it crates good balance within the album, but who wants balance these days? When I think of Vampire Weekend I think of awesome summer days with my mates, that's the type of song they do best. However I do admire them for adding a new string to their bow, I just hope their next offering isn't overshadowed by those type of tracks.