Unlike its two predecessors, which burned hot but only in spots, Modern Vampires feels like a rare thought-through album in the iTunes age. (That didn’t stop the band from releasing dribs and drabs piecemeal over the past few weeks, but that seems to be a fact of modern music-making now.) Its best songs are its slow jams, but every minute feels part of a larger whole rather than just a smattering of hits fleshed out for the sake of fleshing. It’s a pleasant surprise that begins cautiously, with the wistful “Obvious Bicycle,” a ballad that nods more toward The Kinks or pre-disco Bee Gees than Paul Simon, setting the layered tone for the rest of the record.
“Step” is that song’s closest cousin and Modern Vampires’ best song: Though it seems almost timid at first, with a loping bass and sweet harpsichord, it evolves into a weirdly eloquent mouthful, with lyrics about Angkor Wat and Croesus. Koenig has become an even keener lyricist over the years, delivering smarty-pants references with sing-along lines (in this case, “The gloves are off / The wisdom teeth are out / Whatchu on about?”) in perfect combination. “Step” throws the greatest curveball imaginable, too, dropping in a quick chopped-and-screwed vocal. It’s puzzling in all the best ways.
But it’s not all grand word-slinging and old instruments: “Diane Young” and “Finger Back” provide the punk ballast to every little twist and turn, though only the former feels like a hit. Then there’s “Ya Hey,” not the album’s strongest song but the one probably destined to be most talked-about, since it kinda-sorta references both Outkast and God. In a way, “Ya Hey” feels like the bridge to whatever might be coming next for Vampire Weekend. The band itself probably doesn’t know quite what that is yet, but as a capstone to what it’s done so far, Modern Vampires Of The City feels pretty perfect.
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