Giving Up The Gun
Vampire Weekend

It’s been three months since the long awaited sophomore album(Contra) was released by the indie sensation Vampire Weekend. You’ve probably heard the album played excessively at the nearest Urban Outfitters(ha-ha). At first listen, the album fails to impress. Expectations were a bit too high since their first album proved to be fantastic.  After a couple of listens, you’ll agree that Contra is an excellent predecessor to the first. Vampire Weekend has a unique mixture of influences including African pop music. This African influence can be heard in the tracks “California English” and “Diplomat’s Son”. These tracks along with many others, give off a great vibe. Their first single,“Cousins”, provides a cheerful beat that can potentially create a massive dance party(maybe). Vampire Weekend slows it down a bit with tracks “I Think Ur A Contra”, “Taxi Cab”, and “Horchata”.  My personal favorite recordings on the album are “Run”, “I Think Ur A Contra”, and “Giving Up The Gun”. Overall, this album is nothing short of incredible and the hype is rightly given to this intelligent group of fellas. 

Recommended Tracks for Vampire Weekend Virgins: “Giving Up the Gun” & Cousins. Also check out the brand new video of “Giving Up The Gun” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Joe Jonas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bccKotFwzoY

-Sara Azoulay 

“We mostly work to live  

Until we live to work”