vampire weekend - modern vampires of the city
Anna: so i'm obsessed with this album and i'm not going to shut up
Mike: dude fucking GO FOR IT
what is that mechanical noise
why is it there
it works
Anna: it’s this
but it sounds like the pump on an oil field somewhere, doesn't it?
this song is a drag, really
it's the most mellow possible opening for this side of the record
but it's like the church bells calling you to service
that's what "listen up" is
Mike: ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space
start with a slow one, let people work their way into it
Anna: don't forget the rich ones who were kind
Andrew Carnegie, maybe
the donors who built the church
he’s got a lot to get off his chest
about modern life and religion and his peers
but first it's like "gather round"
did you ever sleep on the floor of a high school gym
god how many times
like think of all the mornings you spent sitting in the gym/cafeteria
or the time or i went on drug-free weekend camp
Mike: i thought of it as being like..
yeah like a youth retreat
Anna: yeah, the kind of nostalgia he’s been too young to think about before
did you notice the beat dropped out
Mike: i mean the dude is actually saying high school
Anna: he’s like whispering to you
Mike: there's a little wobble sort of in the back that keeps time
Anna: and he's about to let loose with everything else he has to say about where's from and who he is and what it means
first on the list
the damned church
like do you even have to ask why i love this song
Mike: i kept hearing this on the radio and being kind of annoyed
Anna: it is in the rare category of being a song i actually listen to and a song i have on my workout playlist
Mike: i guess it has a real hook but the part i always remember is DUNK DUNK DUNK
Anna: lol
we always said grace before meals
i was/am a little unbelieving shit, always passed on my turn, and kept my eyes open
and you construct your whole youth rebellion out of that kind of thing and then where do you turn
Mike: existentialism
then you get out of your teens and it's like hey remember how you always felt off, that's only getting worse
Anna: also you can watch their fame and success weighing on them
hence the fate
also this chariots of fire ending, total workout song
and then we just tone it down again
Mike: i don't know why the font for modern vampires is up in the corner
i would like it if that wasn't there
also i BELIEVE there's autotune on this
let me listen real close to the vocals
Anna: also a buncha puns
Angkor Wat/Mechanicsburg
Mike: this is the shit i don't like.. congratulations you went to college
Anna: did i mention we are going to appreciate VASTLY different things about this album
Mike: i like that they say 'step to my girl' though
Anna: i love and eat up double entendres and literary references
like literary references #1 thing that is going to get me into your music
i read Neon Bible when that came out
Mike: yeah generally the best part about music is the part where it references books, for me
the whole sound thing, i take, i leave
Anna: stale conversation deserves but a bread knife
oh wait wait wait we missed the Talking Heads reference
ancestors told me their girl is better
Mike: i really just like having something to look up on songmeanings after
#liberal #arts #liberalarts
Anna: wisdom’s a gift but you trade it for youth
the sentiments in this song vs. the next one
it's like degrees of anger, almost
Mike: for real though god damn everything about this is gorgeous
the bassline literally sounds like it's stepping up and down between the chords
Anna: there’s this incredibly specific/visercal description of age
being the age to have your wisdom teeth out
and just starting to feel it in your bones
and "such a modest mouse”
which is right back to the high school gym, honestly
Mike: 9___________9
Anna: no idea about the weird lowered voice
w/e Ezra
Mike: the dream does it, ezra likes him
at least one of them likes the song the-dream did with drake a LOT
Anna: did you know Saab got real mad about them torching that car
didn't realize they were giving it away to have it burned on camera
Mike: i did hear about that
also i just call this song 'dying young' in my head because fucking hell who caaaaaaaaaaares
Anna: another thing going on all the way through is a lot of current and historical political references
"flip flopping" and then the Kennedys
things that are short-lived, opinions and people
Mike: music isn't, though
good thing they tied it to that
Anna: i used to listen to this when i would run around the golf course uptown
think you can make it to the 18th hole
and grabbing the wheel
because this is a Car Album
i couldn't put it in the station so i just threw it in my car
so last.fm will never know how many dozens of listens it gets
Mike: i generally don't like the fast songs they do, they always feel like they're dance music for people who get really nervous about dancing
'bad enough just getting old’
i like that
Anna: you know i love the past because i hate suspense
like watching classic movies
don’t lie doesn't really do it for me
Mike: ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i like this one
another slow song
get to hear ezra crooning
he gets WAY better at singing
he sounds the same but he gets better
Anna: but i like that it's right here
because a huge part of this record is the pacing
it's the most classic 12-song album format and they do it so well
i had some deep read of this song set up but i forget now
Mike: it’s about not lying
Anna: it's about mortality
it's the second take on Diane Young
the thoughtful, less angry strain of thought
Mike: jesus christ so they might as well have called this 'holy shit we're almost 30'
Anna: ayyyyyyy-uuuup
"there's a headstone right in front of you" don't get dramatic or anything bro
vamp weeks' "do you reeeeeeeeeallllliiiize"
Mike: that band
is the worst thing
Anna: but that idea, of asking everyone else "does this not bother you"
that's a lot of his frustration
now this one is my Ezra croon jam
one time i listened to this song right before i went into work and they'd rearranged the potted plants
tru story
but imagine going on a road trip with someone and discovering about yourself and your relationship and the middle american economy
living in your own weird car time, and staying in motel beds and not fucking
Mike: i did that, anna
it wasn't like this
for one thing it was much longer
another thing: more driving
Anna: one thing about my BFF is that after about four days in a car we don't get along so well anymore
it's a stress test
hey-o the US dollar
Mike: hi i'm almost 30?
i subscribed to the economist
but i've just been looking at the covers for the last couple weeks
Anna: this is my FAVE
the sing it out chorus and the theremin
this is the most soulful theremin of all time
Mike: yeah
it's... not
it's a slide guitar
Anna: shut up i love this song
and time to flip the record
like i said
classic album structure
so #7 and #8 gotta be catchy
also i just finished watching The Master two hours ago
that's what i'm imagining Everlasting Arms being about right now
Mike: i liked the part where it fell out
that was ok
and confronting scientology
all about that
Anna: thought it over and drew the curtain, like willfully accepting denial
Mike: beneath the chandelier
CALLBACK
Anna: and at the same time admitting he'll never comprehend the slavery experience, the kind of thing they've been accused of since the beginning
hang onto that idea it's about to come back
finger back, if you will
i'm going to have to type fast
this song is kind of silly but it's still worth it
Mike: it has the best part
too bad about the song
Anna: hit with me a wood bat, hit me like a yankee, something something never a slave
baseball being the american pastime and the first sport to integrate
my other theory about this song is that it's kind of a dog-whistle to kinky ezra groupies
"the punishment i needed all my life" "baby you're mine" "baby you're not anybody's fool"
all the enticement and reassurance i needed, thx bb
Mike: what's that one band
dirty somethings
Anna: projectors
Mike: ohhhhhhhhh yeah
that one
ok keep going
Anna: so text in songs
i love em
i love em unconditionally
text in art
Mike: i like this one
it might be the word ‘falafel'
falafel
god DAMMIT they are singing again
i don’t want to live like this anna
Anna: city with the weight upon it feels a bit 9/11 to me
obviously it's about the cover image too
but weight of tragedy, and then the rest of the song being about uncertainty in who you're following/worshipping
Mike: did they run out of african things to rip off
did rostam lose his copy of graceland
maybe that's the real message here
'hello could you please return my paul simon album, world’
Anna: just got a new release that’s a big ol graceland ripoff
you'd hate it
i love it
but how many albums aspire to american geography, and american society, and personal relationships to spirituality
Mike: i mean american geography
sufjan
society
basically any music made is the product of a society right
so they're all about that
personal relationships to spirituality? do you mean... ...
i dunno that could be basically anything
Anna: or it could be bouncing into graceland
i phrased it p badly but it's obvious what album they're harking to
Mike: more importantly yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa hey
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa hey
second song on their second album literally sounds like they're trying to play a song off graceland
like it's TRANSPARENT
Anna: they used to be a more transparent band
Mike Kramer: um
they started out with like
an album that is basically just half an hour of a song
just one song
and everything they do that's different people are like OH SHIT SWITCHING IT UP
Anna: one of the things i like about this side of the album is that it's a little more spacey and opaque
less angry than the first half
Mike: they made an album that is preoccupied with aging right before they all turned 30 anna
i looked that up and i still am sort of having trouble believing it
it's like they got this book 'HOW TO BE AN ARTIST... AT EVERY STAGE OF YOUR LIFE' at a thrift store
Anna: we’re living in a generation of personal brand fanatics engaged in constant self-reflection
this really shouldn't surprise you
Mike: you can be wayyyyyyyyyyyy less obvious about it
kind of wonder how much of the appeal of these guys is just playing 'catch the reference'
Anna: never realized how creepy some of the effects on Hudson are
didn't enjoy this one ever until i was playing this album while i was moving out of my old house, alone in the middle of the night
Mike: i actually like this song i was just following the inner jerk for a while
Anna: the pacing mike the pacing
it's so good i don't even listen to the songs sometimes
Mike: the pacing... is a thing that's been done though
it's you catching a reference
'only 90s kids will get this'
Anna: you don't listen to as many half-baked attempts at debut albums as i do
their first album worked as a full-length and that is a difficult, subtle thing
this one is like masterpiece structure
Mike: it wasn't their first full length you goof
blue cd-r right
Anna: i have no idea i don't know that much about them
i tried to listen to contra for a second and thought it sounded sort of like the postal service and turned it off
i just love this album
down to this last track that is clearly just here to be an outro and bring the count up to 12
Mike: 12 play - r kelly
also every dream album has 12 main tracks not counting intros/bonus
Anna: i’m not trying to say it's original!
Mike: none of it is
i'm telling you this gets so much love because it's the musical equivalent of a guy doing stand-up like
REMEMBER POGS
REMEMBER POKEMON CARDS
HAHA THAT WAS WEIRD RIGHT
OH MAN AND WE ALL HAD NINTENDOOOOOOOOS
Anna: remember how the pilgrims stole the native peoples' land and introduced the idea of private property
remember the paranoid style in american politics
remember how we got entangled in foreign wars
Mike Kramer: ...references
Anna: yes, totally banal pop culture references, the veritable equivalent of pokemon cards
Mike: they are if you take into account vampire weekend's target demographic
like this shit is aimed at you, me, every single human being who has ever thought 'i should move to new york, go to shows, ride a fixed gear, drink a pourover’
which makes sense because that's vampy weeks' whole deal like that's what They are
i can't tell whether they figured out how to do this on purpose or they honestly think it's coming from somewhere Else
Anna: oh i think they figured it out
they are very keen that everyone know they're clever devils
golly, what am i going to do with this ivy league degree, i'll start a band, that'll show 'em
Mike: yeah but i mean are they like cashing in, writing music and thinking man this shit's gonna look great in starbucks
or are they like man this song kicks ass, we are veritable geniuses
because i was just watching that seinfeld interview
seinfeld had shit ratings for four seasons, you know why it stayed on the air? the people who DID watch it were rich
if you aim at a well-educated group of people you can make a comfortable living
maybe not like... headline glastonbury but i bet it keeps ezra's fridge stocked with soy/almond/whatever milk
Anna: so would the actual job he could get with his degree
but they went for this
so why can't it be both
Mike: well yeah
people cheer you on for this
it's rad as fuck
maybe it is!
i just like the idea of them cackling like
hooooooly shit we keep pumping this shit out and they keep buying it
ok also now i'm listening to graceland it's like
the wiggles vs. the beatles
Anna: i was under the impression they almost didn't make this album
i think you can hear that in some of the ambiguity and sadness and anger that motivates it
and how they clearly feel like they've been stung by their critics and aren't sure they can justify continuing when they're so easy to mock
which, obviously, upper east side problems!
but i don't think it's like, crank up the crossover indie rock factory and the precocious lyrics machine, we're making another one
Mike: they're just
pleasant i guess
pleasant and not especially interesting
wallpaper music
i caught myself putting them on and kind of bobbing my head while doing.. literally anything else
it's like.. i like them
but i don't want to reward boring
Anna: stale conversation
Mike: yeah we run into this a LOT huh
Anna: deserves but a bread knife
that's objectively the best song
Mike: FALAFEL
falafel for best word of forever
Anna: i can agree to those terms
i'm really excited to see what they try to do next
i don't think you can get much archetypically better than this
which means they have to be really weird
very exciting
i don't care if i ever listen to contra
Mike: first album is kinda raw and party-y, second one is lush but still upbeat, this is their 'dark album’
establishing that emotional range
seems like they have two options
one: another rad fun time party album, gets the kids dancing
two: bit simpler, bit darker, lots of articles about how 'deep' this one is
$$$ vs. critics
Anna: ~~stay tuned~~
i swear i used to be disinterested
when they were headlining at Pitchfork last year i left before their set because i just didn't care anymore
but i really, really like this album
any more vamps gripes?
are you prepared to wear the plastic fangs and the "sunday" t-shirt in our vamp weeks couples halloween costume
Mike: i mean not without getting to mention an international zionist conspiracy no
you did get me to like.. listen to something i didn't really like and appreciate it a LOT more
like when it comes to arranging
you can tell it took years
Anna: i mean, do i feel like a fucking idiot when i drive all over new orleans playing it, of course
but i also really, really enjoy it