Album Anniversaries: 'Contra' Turns 10

Vampire Weekend’s 2010 sophomore effort has now become one of the landmark indie albums of, well, all time. Although the band has since moved on to other sounds and styles, Contra remains just one of those albums that left a mark, bringing a tantalizing subculture to the mainstream.

In Album Anniversaries, writers honor their favorite aging albums and their subsequent legacies, revealing which projects have stood the test of time.

Written by Kasey Clarke

Photo courtesy of XL Recordings

At the time of its release, Contra was Vampire Weekend’s opportunity to prove themselves. Following their 2008 self-titled debut, the band quickly skyrocketed from underground indie acclaim to playing festivals and gaining mainstream attention. Although the band had its critics, Contra was well received, with many reviewers agreeing that it successfully built upon their foundations in Vampire Weekend. 

Hard-hitting percussion and constantly accelerating synth flourishes give the album’s sound a frantic, electric energy. There are little places to rest throughout the album’s 36-minute runtime. Although tracks “Taxi Cab” and “I Think Ur A Contra” slow the tempo, they are still packed with cryptic double entendres and layered melodies that create tension. 

While Contra arguably set precedents in terms of style — its overly layered production and maximalist style have hardly waned in popularity — it provides more of a time capsule than a look forward. 2010 was arguably the greatest year in modern indie music, seeing the releases of The Suburbs, This is Happening, Teen Dream, Congratulations, and Treats from indie music’s biggest stars. Contra preceded them all, and seems to share elements with all of them as well. The cluttered synth imbued sounds of LCD Soundsystem’s This is Happening and MGMT’s Congratulations, the melancholy of young adulthood portrayed on Beach House’s Teen Dream and Sleigh Bells’ Treats, and the thematic balance between being almost unbearably hipster while also hating hipsters on Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs can all be found in Contra.

The hipsterness (I know that word sounds incredibly corny now, but we’re talking about 2010) of it all is what brought about some of the criticism. “California English,” for example, pokes fun at California stereotypes — Hapa clubs, Toms of Maine toothpaste, rich kid ski and surf trips — in order to satirize how snobby East Coasters can be. However, Vampire Weekend’s own snobbery is what turned some listeners away. The Ralph Lauren polos, the scholarly vocabulary sprinkled throughout their lyrics, and the constant emphasis of the band members’ alma mater, Columbia University, garnered them a reputation for pretentiousness. 

Perhaps coincidentally, “California English” also exemplifies another oft-criticized attribute of Vampire Weekend: lead singer Ezra Koenig’s indiscernible singing. Koenig eventually responded to these criticisms with “Finger Back” on Modern Vampires of the City (2013), on which he calls his singing “bum rap” and insinuates that everyone in LA is an asshole. 

The self-awareness demonstrated by Vampire Weekend on “California English” is nowhere to be found on one of their most popular songs, “Holiday.” The track has a very California surf and ska sound, despite their open distaste for the West Coast. Koenig’s nearly unintelligible lyrics seem to criticize the Iraq War through the eyes of an American teenager folded in with references to Day-Glo apparel and Cutter bug spray that somehow feel like name-dropping. Coupled with the band’s signature percussion driven, summery sound, this song was basically constructed to scream “Yeah, I know stuff about stuff, but I’m cool about it,” in a way that people who didn’t go to an Ivy League will never be able to do.

A lot has changed for the band in the last decade. The band took a six year hiatus that saw the departure of keystone member Rostam Batmanglij from the band, as well as his first solo debut. Rostam also expanded his efforts as a songwriter and producer, working with Charli XCX, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Clairo. During this time, Vampire Weekend members Chris Baio and Chris Tomson also released projects of their own, and frontman Ezra Koenig welcomed his first son into the world. Their latest release Father of the Bride departs from their original sound just as the band has also departed from their original identity, although they still accidentally reference Columbia.  

Despite where the band is now, the East Coast hipster of 2010 is forever captured in Contra’s  10 tracks. Although Contra was less self-aware than later Vampire Weekend projects, its shamelessness in its involved lyrics, busy sound and clashing instruments is what makes it still fun to listen to 10 years later.