Vampire Weekend - Contra
Critic Score
Based on 37 reviews
2010 Ratings: #85 / 924
Year End Rank: #9
User Score
2010 Rank: #70
Liked by 246 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

91
A.V. Club

The 10 songs here don’t collectively match the near-perfection displayed on the band’s debut, but Contra is varied and vivacious enough to make each spin as revelatory as the first time you realized what the band was getting away with and how well it pulled off the feat.

87
Paste

Contra opener “Horchata” displays a caliber of pop songcraft and melodic intuition that gives The Shins’ James Mercer a run for his harmony, and the feathery lightness of lead singer Ezra Koenig’s voice allows him to indulge fluttering melodies that would sink under the weight of more overbearing pipes.

86
Pitchfork

Contra works because of its juxtapositions-- of natural sounds to processed ones; of manners to tantrums; of party rhythms to deadpan poetry; of black music to white music.

80
Clash
With a mix of frantic and scrappy pop songs alongside blankets of processed peacefulness ‘Contra’ is a fun and always intriguing listen. Vampire Weekend remain the most unlikely crowd pleasers and long may they continue to make the unapproachable not just relevant but entirely necessary.
80
American Songwriter

Far more than a companion piece of leftover ideas, the album is light, musically savvy and, for the most part, pulls off a thick dose of shamelessly sunny pop across all of its 10 tracks.

80
The Observer

Contra, like its predecessor, spills over with limber rhythms and percussive bounce, evoking sunny, "exotic" climes far from ice-cool Manhattan.

80
Spectrum Culture

Contra shows Vampire Weekend have more depth and talent than detractors give them credit for and this will be the album-warm, poignant, absurdly catchy-to get you through the dreary winter months.

80
AllMusic

With Contra, Vampire Weekend make Auto-Tune and real live guitars, Mexican drinks, Jamaican riffs and Upper West Side strings belong together, and this exciting lack of boundaries offers more possibilities than anyone could have expected.

80
PopMatters

Contra may not propose much of a rebuttal to those who thumbed their nose up at the band’s past work, but it’s not difficult to see how it could strengthen their core audience while netting them some new fans at the same time. These aren’t songs that will define boundaries or alter music’s landscape as much as help refine and expand them.

80
musicOMH

There are some mis-steps – California English employs Auto-Tune about two years too late – but overall this is a fine follow-up to their successful debut.

60
The Skinny

Contra doesn’t contain as much pop smarts as their eponymous debut, but then that record was such an explosion of ideas and styles that this seems more considered by comparison.

Bobby792003
82

“Who the hell is that?” This is the first question you ask when you see the album cover of ‘Contra’ for the first time. But “OH MY GOD, IT’S VAMPIRE WEEKEND” is what you say when you give it a second glance, especially if you’re a fan of their debut. And unsurprisingly, ‘Contra’ sounds as good as the debut, though there are notable differences worth mentioning.

For starters, genres such as indie rock and Afrobeat have taken a step ... read more

Scre4meh
80

[discovering the 2010's review#3 -- entry #5]

Picture this, you won a travel prize and now you are going through a world tour in the next few weeks. In this tour you go through a bunch of interesting countries (culturally). You visit Japan, Jamaica, South Africa, UK, all of those countries. That trip is exactly what i feel like "Contra" is. A colorful trip in which you explore how our world sounds. And i'm all in for such a nice trip.

Vampire Weekend's sophomore studio album ... read more

JayCrackers
81

Vampire Weekend take a more melodic and mellow vibe with their sophomore album with great effect, creating quite a warm, uplifting experience which seems to never get as mentioned as much as their debut or Modern Vampires in the City but in my opinion it still stands up their with them as a great indie pop record.

Track Review

Horchata (Download) 8.5/10.
White Sky 9/10
Holiday 8.5/10.
California English 7/10
Taxi Cab 7.5/10.
Run 8/10
Cousins 8.5/10.
Giving Up The Gun 9/10
Diplomat's Son ... read more

apostrophe
NR

Cute

Listened on 17/03/2024

85

summer holiday in musical form

mnartriam
70

Alright Lark,

This was the first review I read of yours, and I agreed with your points for the most part, but I think you made the score way too low. A 46?!?!?!? Even your average for the song rankings is around 65! Now I understand that the song rankings aren't the sole factor in how people score an album, but I don't think the cohesiveness and structure are so bad that it deserves another 20 points off the song average. I'm still kinda confused on how you got to that number.

Overall, ... read more

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