Presently consisting of a strong core trio: Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio, and Chris Tomson, Vampire Weekend, a New York band, has managed to sustain its intellectual prowess, even after Rostam Batmanglij left the band in 2015. Five years after the release of their album “Father of the Bride”, which was largely Koenig’s solo project, the band followed up with “Only God Was Above Us”. The album rose from a series of sporadic recording sessions over these five years and bursts at the seams with ideas from its trio of talented musicians.
Koenig’s opening track, “Ice Cream Piano”, strikes with a cynical tone as he sings “Cynical, you can’t deny it. You don’t want to win this war ’cos you don’t want the peace…” The rhythm maintains a persistent anxious pace, a daring deviation from a typical linear resolution.
Stirring musical responses are found in songs like “Classical”, a refreshing summer soul tune punctuated by provocative saxophones reminiscent of David Bowie’s “Aladdin Sane” era and the avant-garde keyboards of Mike Garson. “Capricorn” presents an elegant art-pop piano ballad expertly layered on a complex texture. “Connect” transitions from a Franz Liszt-inspired opening into Koenig’s lament over a lost friendship, before spiralling back into an apprehensive musical display featuring turbulent piano fugues and anxious drumming.
Songs, including “Pre-School Gangsters” (which brings Kronos Quartet’s take on Johnny Thunders), “The Surfer” (which mixes John Barry with Abbey Road), “Pravda” (enlivened with aloha-aloha guitar riffs directly from the first season of “The White Lotus”) and “Mary Boone” (featuring choral yells and flowing piano), plumb into the album’s themes of a nostalgic New York period.
The most remarkable aspect is their ability to use music to shed light on changing cultural trends and exhibit how musicians can wield astute cleverness without veering away from their primary aim: to create lively, innovative pieces.