#wampire veeks

Anna: so i'm obsessed with this album and i'm not going to shut up

Mike: dude fucking GO FOR IT

what is that mechanical noise

why is it there

it works

Anna: it’s this

but it sounds like the pump on an oil field somewhere, doesn't it?

this song is a drag, really

it's the most mellow possible opening for this side of the record

but it's like the church bells calling you to service

that's what "listen up" is

Mike: ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space

start with a slow one, let people work their way into it

Anna: don't forget the rich ones who were kind

Andrew Carnegie, maybe

the donors who built the church

he’s got a lot to get off his chest

about modern life and religion and his peers

but first it's like "gather round"

did you ever sleep on the floor of a high school gym

god how many times

like think of all the mornings you spent sitting in the gym/cafeteria

or the time or i went on drug-free weekend camp

Mike: i thought of it as being like..

yeah like a youth retreat

Anna: yeah, the kind of nostalgia he’s been too young to think about before

did you notice the beat dropped out

Mike: i mean the dude is actually saying high school

Anna: he’s like whispering to you

Mike: there's a little wobble sort of in the back that keeps time

Anna: and he's about to let loose with everything else he has to say about where's from and who he is and what it means

first on the list

the damned church

like do you even have to ask why i love this song

Mike: i kept hearing this on the radio and being kind of annoyed

Anna: it is in the rare category of being a song i actually listen to and a song i have on my workout playlist

Mike: i guess it has a real hook but the part i always remember is DUNK DUNK DUNK

Anna: lol

we always said grace before meals

i was/am a little unbelieving shit, always passed on my turn, and kept my eyes open

and you construct your whole youth rebellion out of that kind of thing and then where do you turn

Mike: existentialism

then you get out of your teens and it's like hey remember how you always felt off, that's only getting worse

Anna: also you can watch their fame and success weighing on them

hence the fate

also this chariots of fire ending, total workout song

and then we just tone it down again

Mike: i don't know why the font for modern vampires is up in the corner

i would like it if that wasn't there

also i BELIEVE there's autotune on this

let me listen real close to the vocals

Anna: also a buncha puns

Angkor Wat/Mechanicsburg

Mike: this is the shit i don't like.. congratulations you went to college

Anna: did i mention we are going to appreciate VASTLY different things about this album

Mike: i like that they say 'step to my girl' though

Anna: i love and eat up double entendres and literary references

like literary references #1 thing that is going to get me into your music

i read Neon Bible when that came out

Mike: yeah generally the best part about music is the part where it references books, for me

the whole sound thing, i take, i leave

Anna: stale conversation deserves but a bread knife

oh wait wait wait we missed the Talking Heads reference

ancestors told me their girl is better

Mike: i really just like having something to look up on songmeanings after

#liberal #arts #liberalarts

Anna: wisdom’s a gift but you trade it for youth

the sentiments in this song vs. the next one

it's like degrees of anger, almost

Mike: for real though god damn everything about this is gorgeous

the bassline literally sounds like it's stepping up and down between the chords

Anna: there’s this incredibly specific/visercal description of age

being the age to have your wisdom teeth out

and just starting to feel it in your bones

and "such a modest mouse”

which is right back to the high school gym, honestly

Mike: 9___________9

Anna: no idea about the weird lowered voice

w/e Ezra

Mike: the dream does it, ezra likes him

at least one of them likes the song the-dream did with drake a LOT

Anna: did you know Saab got real mad about them torching that car

didn't realize they were giving it away to have it burned on camera

Mike: i did hear about that

also i just call this song 'dying young' in my head because fucking hell who caaaaaaaaaaares

Anna: another thing going on all the way through is a lot of current and historical political references

"flip flopping" and then the Kennedys

things that are short-lived, opinions and people

Mike: music isn't, though

good thing they tied it to that

Anna: i used to listen to this when i would run around the golf course uptown

think you can make it to the 18th hole

and grabbing the wheel

because this is a Car Album

i couldn't put it in the station so i just threw it in my car

so last.fm will never know how many dozens of listens it gets

Mike: i generally don't like the fast songs they do, they always feel like they're dance music for people who get really nervous about dancing

'bad enough just getting old’

i like that

Anna: you know i love the past because i hate suspense

like watching classic movies

don’t lie doesn't really do it for me

Mike: ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i like this one

another slow song

get to hear ezra crooning

he gets WAY better at singing

he sounds the same but he gets better

Anna: but i like that it's right here

because a huge part of this record is the pacing

it's the most classic 12-song album format and they do it so well

i had some deep read of this song set up but i forget now

Mike: it’s about not lying

Anna: it's about mortality

it's the second take on Diane Young

the thoughtful, less angry strain of thought

Mike: jesus christ so they might as well have called this 'holy shit we're almost 30'

Anna: ayyyyyyy-uuuup

"there's a headstone right in front of you" don't get dramatic or anything bro

vamp weeks' "do you reeeeeeeeeallllliiiize"

Mike: that band

is the worst thing

Anna: but that idea, of asking everyone else "does this not bother you"

that's a lot of his frustration

now this one is my Ezra croon jam

one time i listened to this song right before i went into work and they'd rearranged the potted plants

tru story

but imagine going on a road trip with someone and discovering about yourself and your relationship and the middle american economy

living in your own weird car time, and staying in motel beds and not fucking

Mike: i did that, anna

it wasn't like this

for one thing it was much longer

another thing: more driving

Anna: one thing about my BFF is that after about four days in a car we don't get along so well anymore

it's a stress test

hey-o the US dollar

Mike: hi i'm almost 30?

i subscribed to the economist

but i've just been looking at the covers for the last couple weeks

Anna: this is my FAVE

the sing it out chorus and the theremin

this is the most soulful theremin of all time

Mike: yeah

it's... not

it's a slide guitar

Anna: shut up i love this song

and time to flip the record

like i said

classic album structure

so #7 and #8 gotta be catchy

also i just finished watching The Master two hours ago

that's what i'm imagining Everlasting Arms being about right now

Mike: i liked the part where it fell out

that was ok

and confronting scientology

all about that

Anna: thought it over and drew the curtain, like willfully accepting denial

Mike: beneath the chandelier

CALLBACK

Anna: and at the same time admitting he'll never comprehend the slavery experience, the kind of thing they've been accused of since the beginning

hang onto that idea it's about to come back

finger back, if you will

i'm going to have to type fast

this song is kind of silly but it's still worth it

Mike: it has the best part

too bad about the song

Anna: hit with me a wood bat, hit me like a yankee, something something never a slave

baseball being the american pastime and the first sport to integrate

my other theory about this song is that it's kind of a dog-whistle to kinky ezra groupies

"the punishment i needed all my life" "baby you're mine" "baby you're not anybody's fool"

all the enticement and reassurance i needed, thx bb

Mike: what's that one band

dirty somethings

Anna: projectors

Mike: ohhhhhhhhh yeah

that one

ok keep going

Anna: so text in songs

i love em

i love em unconditionally

text in art

Mike: i like this one

it might be the word ‘falafel'

falafel

god DAMMIT they are singing again

i don’t want to live like this anna

Anna: city with the weight upon it feels a bit 9/11 to me

obviously it's about the cover image too

but weight of tragedy, and then the rest of the song being about uncertainty in who you're following/worshipping

Mike: did they run out of african things to rip off

did rostam lose his copy of graceland

maybe that's the real message here

'hello could you please return my paul simon album, world’

Anna: just got a new release that’s a big ol graceland ripoff

you'd hate it

i love it

but how many albums aspire to american geography, and american society, and personal relationships to spirituality

Mike: i mean american geography

sufjan

society

basically any music made is the product of a society right

so they're all about that

personal relationships to spirituality? do you mean... ...

i dunno that could be basically anything

Anna: or it could be bouncing into graceland

i phrased it p badly but it's obvious what album they're harking to

Mike: more importantly yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa hey

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa hey

second song on their second album literally sounds like they're trying to play a song off graceland

like it's TRANSPARENT

Anna: they used to be a more transparent band

Mike Kramer: um

they started out with like

an album that is basically just half an hour of a song

just one song

and everything they do that's different people are like OH SHIT SWITCHING IT UP

Anna: one of the things i like about this side of the album is that it's a little more spacey and opaque

less angry than the first half

Mike: they made an album that is preoccupied with aging right before they all turned 30 anna

i looked that up and i still am sort of having trouble believing it

it's like they got this book 'HOW TO BE AN ARTIST... AT EVERY STAGE OF YOUR LIFE' at a thrift store

Anna: we’re living in a generation of personal brand fanatics engaged in constant self-reflection

this really shouldn't surprise you

Mike: you can be wayyyyyyyyyyyy less obvious about it

kind of wonder how much of the appeal of these guys is just playing 'catch the reference'

Anna: never realized how creepy some of the effects on Hudson are

didn't enjoy this one ever until i was playing this album while i was moving out of my old house, alone in the middle of the night

Mike: i actually like this song i was just following the inner jerk for a while

Anna: the pacing mike the pacing

it's so good i don't even listen to the songs sometimes

Mike: the pacing... is a thing that's been done though

it's you catching a reference

'only 90s kids will get this'

Anna: you don't listen to as many half-baked attempts at debut albums as i do

their first album worked as a full-length and that is a difficult, subtle thing

this one is like masterpiece structure

Mike: it wasn't their first full length you goof

blue cd-r right

Anna: i have no idea i don't know that much about them

i tried to listen to contra for a second and thought it sounded sort of like the postal service and turned it off

i just love this album

down to this last track that is clearly just here to be an outro and bring the count up to 12

Mike: 12 play - r kelly

also every dream album has 12 main tracks not counting intros/bonus

Anna: i’m not trying to say it's original!

Mike: none of it is

i'm telling you this gets so much love because it's the musical equivalent of a guy doing stand-up like

REMEMBER POGS

REMEMBER POKEMON CARDS

HAHA THAT WAS WEIRD RIGHT

OH MAN AND WE ALL HAD NINTENDOOOOOOOOS

Anna: remember how the pilgrims stole the native peoples' land and introduced the idea of private property

remember the paranoid style in american politics

remember how we got entangled in foreign wars

Mike Kramer: ...references

Anna: yes, totally banal pop culture references, the veritable equivalent of pokemon cards

Mike: they are if you take into account vampire weekend's target demographic

like this shit is aimed at you, me, every single human being who has ever thought 'i should move to new york, go to shows, ride a fixed gear, drink a pourover’

which makes sense because that's vampy weeks' whole deal like that's what They are

i can't tell whether they figured out how to do this on purpose or they honestly think it's coming from somewhere Else

Anna: oh i think they figured it out

they are very keen that everyone know they're clever devils

golly, what am i going to do with this ivy league degree, i'll start a band, that'll show 'em

Mike: yeah but i mean are they like cashing in, writing music and thinking man this shit's gonna look great in starbucks

or are they like man this song kicks ass, we are veritable geniuses

because i was just watching that seinfeld interview

seinfeld had shit ratings for four seasons, you know why it stayed on the air? the people who DID watch it were rich

if you aim at a well-educated group of people you can make a comfortable living

maybe not like... headline glastonbury but i bet it keeps ezra's fridge stocked with soy/almond/whatever milk

Anna: so would the actual job he could get with his degree

but they went for this

so why can't it be both

Mike: well yeah

people cheer you on for this

it's rad as fuck

maybe it is!

i just like the idea of them cackling like

hooooooly shit we keep pumping this shit out and they keep buying it

ok also now i'm listening to graceland it's like

the wiggles vs. the beatles

Anna: i was under the impression they almost didn't make this album

i think you can hear that in some of the ambiguity and sadness and anger that motivates it

and how they clearly feel like they've been stung by their critics and aren't sure they can justify continuing when they're so easy to mock

which, obviously, upper east side problems!

but i don't think it's like, crank up the crossover indie rock factory and the precocious lyrics machine, we're making another one

Mike: they're just

pleasant i guess

pleasant and not especially interesting

wallpaper music

i caught myself putting them on and kind of bobbing my head while doing.. literally anything else

it's like.. i like them

but i don't want to reward boring

Anna: stale conversation

Mike: yeah we run into this a LOT huh

Anna: deserves but a bread knife

that's objectively the best song

Mike: FALAFEL

falafel for best word of forever

Anna: i can agree to those terms

i'm really excited to see what they try to do next

i don't think you can get much archetypically better than this

which means they have to be really weird

very exciting

i don't care if i ever listen to contra

Mike: first album is kinda raw and party-y, second one is lush but still upbeat, this is their 'dark album’

establishing that emotional range

seems like they have two options

one: another rad fun time party album, gets the kids dancing

two: bit simpler, bit darker, lots of articles about how 'deep' this one is

$$$ vs. critics

Anna: ~~stay tuned~~

i swear i used to be disinterested

when they were headlining at Pitchfork last year i left before their set because i just didn't care anymore

but i really, really like this album

any more vamps gripes?

are you prepared to wear the plastic fangs and the "sunday" t-shirt in our vamp weeks couples halloween costume

Mike: i mean not without getting to mention an international zionist conspiracy no

you did get me to like.. listen to something i didn't really like and appreciate it a LOT more

like when it comes to arranging

you can tell it took years

Anna: i mean, do i feel like a fucking idiot when i drive all over new orleans playing it, of course