Vampire Weekend fuses genres to create an impressive sophomore album

Vampire Weekend – Contra

Released: Jan. 12

Rating: A

Label: XL Recordings

Rocks Like:… Vampire Weekend – Contra

Released: Jan. 12

Rating: A

Label: XL Recordings

Rocks Like: Discovery

Vampire Weekend returns with Contra this week. Rest assured, the band’s still worth the hype; they wear preppy menswear, do their quirky video thing and sing about private school and obscurely named beverages with the best of them.

Temptation looms to label a sophomore album “grown up,” but Vampire Weekend was at nearly full indie band maturity upon its debut. The band made the leap from indie to mainstream in a matter of months, and a beautiful thing happened: The world awakened with new ears as they listened to Africana-influenced prepster rock.

Contra carries more of a beat than the band’s self-titled debut album, with vocals taking a backseat to heavy synth and piano on tracks like “Taxi Cab,” while “Horchata” turns up the drums.

The album takes on something of Discovery, keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij’s side project with Ra Ra Riot’s Wesley Miles that provides a fresh, beat-laden take on R&B. But Vampire Weekend’s “Run,” with its use of brass instruments, could easily be a Ra Ra Riot tune.

The band never copies a style, instead combining it with an unlikely sound, rhythm or lyric that makes an old trick sound new. Vampire Weekend masters the blend by layering harmonies and beats into music that’s endlessly compelling. It has the appeal of poppy fluff with the intelligence of the most complex pieces. That’s not easily done.

Vampire Weekend might have more of a following now, but it deserves one.

Sometimes good things happen to good indie bands, as they have with this band. Digest this record with a nice cup of horchata (an iced milk beverage made from rice, almonds, sesame seeds or tigernuts), while you wear a balaclava (a ski mask) because “winter’s cold is too much to handle” here in Pittsburgh, even if you think you’d look a bit “psychotic.”