New Vampire Weekend album - Father of the Bride

[oSuJeff97 3435]

Probably my most anticipated album of the year is Vampire Weekend's "Father of the Bride."  I can't believe it's been six years (!) since "Modern Vampires of the City"... that's crazy.

The first two singles are "Harmony Hall" and "2021."  I LOVE Harmony Hall.

 

 

 

[UrbanAchiever 278]

About time. They kept teasing this in the fall. I was anticipating a 2018 release, but all is forgiven now that tracks are incrementally being released.

[oSuJeff97 3435]

Yeah and the other cool thing is it's essentially a "double album" with 18 songs.   That's pretty cool after the long wait.

[joe dirt 285]

2 shows @acl live in august.

lady dirt demanding tix. who am i to deny her such things 

[oSuJeff97 3435]

Anyone else listening to this today?

I REALLY like it.

I was curious how Ezra would do without Rostam as a full-time collaborator.... I think he's done just fine.

Need to listen a little more before a full review, but really liking it on the first listen.

[bizzle 1153]

this is great.

curious how it will hold up on repeated listens as there seem fewer of the crazy-production-depth pieces rostam would fill the spaces with, but i've gone from thinking ezra was a kind of a bit / one-note songwriter, to thinking he's one of the more gifted artists of the last 20 years over the last 2 albums.

 

[Guest Lobo]

Just gave half of it a listen.  Obviously at 18 songs, even with several sub-2 minute tracks, gonna take awhile.  the breadth is very impressive at first blush.  This could be their Physical Graffiti, or their Tusk.  

I sold my great seats for their show later this summer at Moody Theater.  Now, I want them back .

[Neonmoon 38129]

Listening the past couple hours. Holy shit. This album is scary good. 

 

[oSuJeff97 3435]

Picked up the last copy of this on vinyl at my local Josey Records at lunch.  Can't wait to spin it tonight.

[oSuJeff97 3435]

57 minutes ago, bizzle said:

this is great.

curious how it will hold up on repeated listens as there seem fewer of the crazy-production-depth pieces rostam would fill the spaces with, but i've gone from thinking ezra was a kind of a bit / one-note songwriter, to thinking he's one of the more gifted artists of the last 20 years over the last 2 albums.

 

Agreed.

I think that Modern Vampires of the City is still their masterpiece, but FOTB is very, very good.

[ztejas 43454]

I think it's fine. They are missing Rostam's edge and I think Koenig's songwriting has taken a bit of a step back. I like Hold You Now, Harmony Hall, Sympathy, 2021 and Spring Snow. The rest I can do without. It just seems a little too safe and doesn't have the energy or catchiness or depth that past VW albums did (where are the strings?). Kind of reminds me of the most recent Arctic Monkey's album.

But I don't really consider this the same band so it's probably unfair to judge the record against their first 3. I can see why others would dig it - just not my cup of tea. 

[mdmost 43003]

I like it. Got the orange vinyl version on Thursday. I thought they sent me two copies because there was one shrink wrapped and one not. Looked at the one that wasn't wrapped and it was signed by the band. Pretty cool little extra. 

[HoustonHorn 1062]

Holy shit Harmony Hall is the catchiest song of the year. Fucking love the piano. Lyrics with VW are always good. Gotta give the rest a spin but hooked already.

[C-Man 27230]

Good to hear reviews. I haven't dived in yet. There are a couple of songs that I've caught on XMU that are complete train wrecks ("Sunflower" in particular) so I was/am a little leery.

[oSuJeff97 3435]

13 hours ago, C-Man said:

Good to hear reviews. I haven't dived in yet. There are a couple of songs that I've caught on XMU that are complete train wrecks ("Sunflower" in particular) so I was/am a little leery.

I hear ya. Other than "Harmony Hall", I wasn't super excited when I heard the pre-album-release singles.  However, I will say that (IMO) they work within the flow of the album.

This album is very sprawling and loose... almost jam-band-ish in a way. I really enjoy just listening to the whole thing unwind... but yeah I don't think I would listen to a song like "Sunflower" or "2021" just a standalone "singles" for lack of a better term.

[ztejas 43454]

Unbearably White has totally grown on me. I think it took a couple of listens but it's definitely one of the strongest tracks on there. 

@C-Man unfortunately there is more than one trainwreck. There are 3-4 songs that are just fucking bad (the 2nd track with the HAIM chick is just... why did anyone let that happen or think it was a good idea). Probably keeping me from getting into the album more than I have. 

[Neonmoon 38129]

There are the really catchy songs like "Harmony Hall" and "This Life", but I think "Stranger" is the best of them all. 

But I really love the little gems like "Big Blue" and "Jerusalem, New York, Berlin" and "Unbearably White"

[C-Man 27230]

Finally listened to it last night while making dinner. I like it, I think. But I don’t really know what they’re trying to do. My first impression was how does it all fit together and does it fit together? Does it have to fit together?

At any rate, looking forward to seeing them live for the first time this year. Wish Rostam was still in the band.

[bizzle 1153]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

There are the really catchy songs like "Harmony Hall" and "This Life", but I think "Stranger" is the best of them all. 

But I really love the little gems like "Big Blue" and "Jerusalem, New York, Berlin" and "Unbearably White"

stranger is incredible. 

[Bottlecap 1523]

Rostam WAS vampire weekend. I know he produced We Belong Together, which is probably the most VW sounding track on FotB, but the rest of the production is utter shit. Individually, the tracks sorta hold up as one-offs, but as an album its a fuckin mess. The pre-releases are obviously the tent poles, but the shorter tracks are where this album should have gone. I dunno, i think VW are one of my top 5 bands in the last decade, but this one is sort of a little trinket on the shelf of their catalogue. Rostam held Ezra's douchiness in. Oh, also, I love female fronted bands, but a whole half album of a guest singer? Very dumb. No way this album holds up over time. FUCK.

2021 is the jam tho.

[Bottlecap 1523]

Sympathy is starting to grow on me too

[sidis 9828]

interesting...listening for the first time and right out of the gate, kind of crazy that they utilize god yu takem leaf blong mi from the soundtrack of the thin red line.

[Guest Lobo]

I pictured Hans Zimmer in a popped color pastel shirt and suede loafers signing over the rights to that song to VW.  

[bizzle 1153]

19 hours ago, Bottlecap said:

Rostam WAS vampire weekend.

yeah, i totally disagree with this. really enjoyed his solo album, and the collaboration with leithauser was really fun, but ezra has most likely forgotten more incredible melodies than rostam will ever come up with. 

while i agree with you it misses his editorializing (or douche control), i think the production on the majority of the album (some of which i know features rostam) is great. punt the haim and steve lacy collaborations and you've got a great little 13 song album. 

[oSuJeff97 3435]

45 minutes ago, bizzle said:

yeah, i totally disagree with this. really enjoyed his solo album, and the collaboration with leithauser was really fun, but ezra has most likely forgotten more incredible melodies than rostam will ever come up with. 

while i agree with you it misses his editorializing (or douche control), i think the production on the majority of the album (some of which i know features rostam) is great. punt the haim and steve lacy collaborations and you've got a great little 13 song album. 

Agreed.

"Rostam was the real talent in Vampire Weekend" reminds me a lot of the "Jay Bennett was the real talent in Wilco" takes from like 10 years ago.

 

[Bottlecap 1523]

I'm phrasing it more like 'Johnny Marr was the real talent in The Smiths' sort of thinking. Sure, morrissey had the vox and the english romanticist lyrics, but marr held the whole band in check from spinning into the ether. 

Listening to FOTB as a 13 track album is actually a fantastic idea. I'll do that tonight as i get my NE IPA on.

[bizzle 1153]

1 hour ago, Bottlecap said:

but marr held the whole band in check from spinning into the ether. 

there's definitely something to this. 

listen on $1,000 headphones and you'll pick up more of the nuance. 

[BigOrange1 6440]

so i'm not a vampire weekend fan at all, but "harmony hall" and "this life" are really, really good.

[Neonmoon 38129]

I actually love the 3 songs featuring Haim lady, especially Gold Rush. 

The two Steve Lacy songs are terrible. If you cut those two, it’s a perfect album.