Vampire Weekend "Vampire Weekend" Review

Originally on Sophiezine.com on February 15th, 2007.

Ahhh… Internet hype. How many times do you have a read glowing reviews of a band on various music blogs only to find the band actually sucks? Too many. And unless you’ve been living under a rock (or don’t read online music publications), you have no doubt seen such reviews of Vampire Weekend. Thankfully, these guys don’t suck.

Much of their hype was due to their phenomenal online demo they put up last year. That hype got them signed to XL Recordings, earned them opening slots for some indie rock giants, and even a performance on The Late Show with David Letterman.

The band's self-titled debut is almost identical to that demo that made their name, only with one extra song and fuller arrangements; not that that’s a bad thing. The record is tight and cohesive, fun and catchy, and a plethora of other positive adjectives.

The band’s afropop/new wave/preppy indie rock sounds undeniably fresh. There isn’t a single band that comes to mind that sounds even remotely like Vampire Weekend. But that’s not to say they are too strange or weird for the casual listener. Everything is simple, straightforward, and instantly likable. The opener “Mansard Roof” sets an upbeat atmosphere that carries on throughout the disc’s run time. The collegiate “Oxford Comma” comes next, and is undoubtedly the best song on the record. The lyrics are not only easily relatable, but also perfectly capture what the band seems to be about. The rest of the record goes by in a flash, and without any weak tracks or filler.

Despite how good this debut is, it’s not without its faults. The album is short, ridiculously so. Coming in at only 34 minutes, it almost could have been an EP. And during those 34 minutes, there is very little variety. Every track sounds similar to the last, and few tracks have much to distinguish themselves. The band figured out what they do best, and stuck with it, which in its own way could be admired.

Vampire Weekend seems to have lived up to much of their internet hype, and in many cases, exceeded it. Their self-titled debut is sure to propel them far beyond pretentious indie rock blogs.

Evangelicals "The Evening Descends" Review

Originally on Sophiezine.com on February 12th, 2007.

Evangelicals’ frontman Josh Jones is not a normal person. His strangeness is apparent from the moment you first see him, talk to him, and especially when you hear his music. If you were to see him on the street, you might assume he is homeless. Bassist Kyle Davis is by no means normal either. His lanky frame and hipster-to-the-extreme fashion sense certainly makes him stand out in a crowd, and he seems to have been put on this earth to do nothing but to be a rock star. But perhaps the strangest part of Evangelicals is drummer Austin Stephen’s apparent normalcy. He just seems like a regular dude and doesn’t really fit in with the band in the slightest, yet at the same time, he fits in perfectly.

The Norman natives released their debut album, So Gone, back in 2006 on Misra Records. But last year, when Misra manager Phil Waldorf was hired by Jagjaguwar to head up their new imprint, Dead Oceans, he brought Evangelicals with him; thus thrusting the band into the indie-rock big leagues.

The Evening Descends, the band’s first release on Dead Oceans, improves upon So Gone in almost every way imaginable. The songwriting is significantly better and more varied; the production is cleaner and crisper; and the overall sound of the band has simply been refined.

The album begins with the schizophrenic title track that jumps from orchestral pop to stripped down pyschedelia to a funky dance number in a scant three minutes. As the album progresses, sounds zoom in and out, up and down, and everywhere in between. At first, everything seems too dense and nonsensical, but with time the melody reveals itself and the album’s catchiness shines through. By the end of the 43 minute run time, it’s difficult not to sing along with Jones’ every word.

Samples are used throughout the record and provide even more depth to an already deep musical landscape. Most of the samples blend in perfectly, but the “splat” sound in “How Do You Sleep” is one of the most unexpected and unexplainable things I’ve ever heard on an album, not that’s it’s necessarily a bad thing.

The band pulls from a wide variety of influences and wears them on its sleeve, yet manages to create a sound uniquely their own. The synthesizers of “Party Crashin” bring to mind 80’s new wave, while “Here in the Deadlights” is reminiscent of post-Waters Pink Floyd. Comparisons to British shoegazing band Slowdive can also easily be made.

On “Bellawood,” Jones repeats the phrase “Strange things keep happening.” If he’s talking about listening to The Evening Descends and the band in general, truer words have never been spoken.