"Contra" (CD review)

by Vampire Weekend, 2010.

I think this is my first CD review in the Blog...
I guess it's time to "open the floodgates, Igor!"

I love Vampire Weekend.
Partly because they remind me of early Talking Heads - quirky, intelligent, and darn catchy.
Partly because they paint in bright, colourful sounds.
Their songs are so joyous that it is a challenge to remain miserable after hearing them.
Not all the lyrics make immediate sense, but they feel right.
And the topics are unorthodox.
Contra is their second album, and doesn't progress dramatically from their first, self-titled effort.
Except by being, if possible, richer in tonal palette, and rhythmic vocabulary.
The African rhythms are still there in a lot of the songs (as are the strings), but perhaps more subtly employed (cf Paul Simon's Graceland).
Music to accompany a sunny day, or shake you out of the doldrums.

10/10.