Vampire Weekend – Father of the Bride
I’m going to get it out of the way, the worst parts of the new Vampire Weekend album by far, are the Danielle Haim songs. I’m not saying it’s her fault, her voice is sweet and slightly sharp if not a bit generic, but for some reason, the first two songs that she sings on are just terrible. Now, these songs are obviously linked, creating the relationship theme that lends Father of the Bride its name. But those first two duets, “Hold You Know” and “Married in a Gold Rush” are two of the cringiest lyrics that have ever appeared on a Vampire Weekend album, at least when delivered the way they are. Most likely this is just due to Danielle Haim, she does not have the same young naiveté that can really sell some of Ezra Koenig’s more benign lyrics. The third duet “We Belong Together” is miles above the other two, most likely due to former Weekender Rostam's production and engineering and this track does have the oomph it needs to elevate itself. Ezra was obviously proud of these songs, but by placing “Hold You Know” as the leadoff track he naturally starts the album off dead on arrival. The choral church flourishes brighten the song a bit but they can only do so much. It’s not until the second song “Harmony Hall” that you really feel that Vampire Weekend energy. The track is urgent and lavish with layered production and a chorus that just keeps getting bigger. It’s a great song, but unfortunately, it's probably the best one here. The album, in general, is just not very strong and although Vampire Weekend has never been known for their consistency, it’s even more disappointing due to its length. At 18 songs and 57 minutes, there’s a lot of fat to trim and there are so many songs here; “Bambina”, “How Long?”, “Rich Man” that have nice melodies but just aren’t fleshed out, songs that seem to just end as if Ezra ran out of time. If these tracks were developed a little more, or maybe even combined into one McCartney-esque Frankenstein, it would certainly tighten up the album and make a more cohesive flow. Of course, there are some songs that probably can’t be salvaged; the aforementioned Danielle Haim contributions, “My Mistake” which is a boring meandering snooze, and especially “Stranger” a limbering little nothing that only wishes it could be a Modern Vampires of the City reject. These tracks especially feel as if Ezra couldn’t bear to part with anyone else’s contributions, like he was just too nice, and the album suffers for it.
Now, just about everybody has noted how many of these songs pull from the Graceland playbook, and in fact, the cover art is probably most reminiscent of the kind of Live Aid/USA for Africa graphic that accentuates the world music and “unity” of the songs inside. Unfortunately, the album doesn’t live up to any of those comparisons, it’s a bloated, frustrating listen, one with high highs and low lows. It’s easily Vampire Weekend’s worst album and one that easily could’ve been better.
~6.5
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