They continued to impress me with their second release, Contra. Now with their third album, Modern Vampires of The City, I'm speechless. Ezra Koenig and the gang have really outdone themselves. Modern Vampires is far different. The lyrics are more personal. The music is more refined. I find myself relating to the lyrics in ways that I haven't related to an album in a long time. Koening is 29 (same age as me) and with lyrics like "Wisdom's a gift, but you'd trade it for youth", and "Nobody knows what the future holds and it's bad enough just getting old" the album feels like an anthem for late twenty somethings transitioning into full adulthood.
MV is more introspective than previous albums. Koening digs deep when questioning not only his place in the world, but his feelings about religion. "Unbelievers" explains itself in the title of the song. Not only is the title of"Ya Hey"a shout out to Outkast, it's the Hebrew pronunciation of Jehovah (Yahweh). On "Hannah Hunt" he sings about not believing in a person of faith's words about "hidden eyes" that can see what we're thinking.
We're almost half way through the year and this album stands out above anything I've heard. I feel like it's important for everyone to listen to. Vampire Weekend have made something that will last. Not that you can compare the two albums, but I haven't been moved this much by an album since Bon Iver's For Emma was released in 2008. Making a third album can be really difficult for most bands, especially with all the hype that has surrounded Vampire Weekend since their first release, but they pull it off seemingly effortlessly.
