Vampire Weekend is among the most listenable bands in my music universe.
I can’t quite recall how or when I stumbled upon them, but odds are good they played on some Pandora channel as I trained for a half marathon or something; the kind of setup that precludes you from instinctively hitting next every time you don’t recognize a song, forcing you to stretch the boundaries of what you find enjoyable.
The best of Vampire Weekend feels like a breath of fresh air after being cooped up in a warm, grey office filled with bad air. And that’s just what their first release in almost five years, “Harmony Hall”, feels like. It’s peppy, it’s sweet, it’s got social commentary, and it’s moderately troubling :
“And the stone walls of Harmony Hall bear witness
Anybody with a worried mind can never forgive the sight
Of wicked snakes inside a place you thought was dignified
I don’t wanna live like this, but I don’t wanna die”
Check it out:
