Vampire Weekend’s fifth album Only God Was Above Us sees the band look back at their old album, but they aren’t able to capture the same magic they once had.
After almost twenty years, it’s great to see the band still making music, especially music that defies their original sound. However, Only God Was Above Us has too much going on and isn’t as focused as prior releases.
Breaking into the indie scene in 2008 with their S/T, Vampire Weekend made an immediate impact, with songs like A-punk and Campus.
This trajectory continued with their next to albums Contra and Modern Vampires of the City. Both great albums, rounding out the sound set up in their first album.
Their fourth album Father of the Bride was a good album, if a little tried. It didn’t have the same impact as prior releases
When talking to the Guardian, front man Ezra Koenig described the album as a mix of fatalism and optimism, “There’s fatalism – the world is a chaotic place and isn’t that terrible? And then there’s optimism – the world is a chaotic place, and you gotta surf that wave.” The Album toes the line between both of these feelings, ending in a hopeful look at the future.
“Fuck the world, you said it quiet”
Ice Cream Piano opens the album, a mess of instruments and softly spoke lyrics. It’s a harsh listen at first, but it sets up the sound Vampire Weekend will explore through this album. The lyrics paint a bleak portrait of the world which continues throuhgout the album.
Classical kicks off with electronic punch before transitioning to a softer indie sound. Droning electric guitars accompany the lead acoustic guitar line, adding a great deal of contrast to the song.
Capricorn follows the softer sound of classical but with an added emphasis on the bass guitar. It’s one of the easiest listens off of the album and is one that doesn’t over stay it’s welcome. A welcome break from the harsh drones of the prior songs.
Connection is one of the best songs on the album, Koenig’s dark lyrics are accompanied by a jazzy bass guitar bumping alone with a muted drum. The mix on instruments add a lot of depth to the song, the verse features a focus on bass guitar, whereas the chorus features drones and distorted piano.
Prep-School Gangsters closes the first half of the album. The guitar line is very reminiscent of their earlier work, it’s a song that they would have made over a decade ago, down to the cheesy lyrics.
“Each generation makes its own apology”
The Surfer mixes the sound further, featuring break beat drums and the previously set up distorted piano. Its a mix of gentle and harsh instrumentation, it works well with the fatalistically hopeful view of the album.
Gen-X Cops features the best guitar work of the whole album. It’s the harshest song on the album, a screaming guitar is accompanied by fast paced drumming, which is all under cut by the time chorus rolls around featuring a gentle piano and pulled back instrumentation. It’s chaos incarnate, but it works surprisingly well.
Mary Boone has the cheesiest lines of the album with the stand out being “Mary Boone, i’m on the dark side of your moon”. It’s silly but it’s a nice change of pace. It’s not the best song on the album but it’s a fun listen.
Pravda is another gentle song, contrasting greatly to earlier songs. The dark yet hopeful lyrics remain as Koenig guides us from Manhattan to Moscow, always looking back and never looking forward.
Hope is a surprising eight minutes conclusion to the album. Koenig continues his subtly dark lyrics but their is a twinge of hope to everything he speaks, “I hope you let it go”. The conclusion features almost every instrument used in album, bringing the experience full circle.
“I hope you let it go”
Only God Was Above Us is an experimental side step for Vampire Weekend. It doesn’t have the same highs are prior releases, but is an interesting listen nonetheless.
It took me a while to get used to the different sound the band went for this time round, but I’ve come to enjoy its differences.
If you like Vampire Weekend it’s worth a listen, it might just take some time to get used to the differences on this album compared to others.
Featured image credit: Hinterlandiowa.com
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