Breaking through with your debut can be both a curse and a blessing. Just ask The Strokes. Fortunately, Vampire Weekend does not fall into the trap of exploiting the formula of the successful first album. The characteristic African guitar riffs have been pushed into the background (although White Sky in particular seems strongly influenced by Paul Simon's Graceland) to make way for electronic sounds.
Perhaps the experience of keyboardist Rostam in the successful side project Discovery has influenced this. At the same time, you can still discover the band that made one of the best indie records of the year in 2008 in the measured arrangements, the choral good vocals of Ezra Koenig and the catchy songs. In a world that is running from internet hype to internet hype, it is important to keep surprising and Vampire Weekend with Contra succeeded again. (MS)more
