Only God Was Above Us sounds like Vampire Weekend honing their strengths, expanding their signature sound, and creating a record that is quintessentially New York. Shrouded in smoke, grit, and hope, they share a vision of New York that the trio are only able to create.
New York's Vampire Weekend have continued to dominate the indie rock world ever since their self-titled debut album in 2008. Aside from a few other acts, they are still a major talking point whenever conversations pop up about what arena-sized indie rock and alternative bands are still left reigning nowadays in the 2020's, where indie rock isn't the highly influential, buzzed about genre that it used to be. Ezra Koenig, Chris Tomson, and Chris Baio still fill that gap that's missing in the popular music world by putting their own signature spin onto things. After their massive return with Father of the Bride in 2019 comes Only God Was Above Us, their new fifth studio album. When listening to Vampire Weekend's latest venture, you get a clear nod to the band returning to form. When listening to the band's signature sound on the punchy album opener "Ice Cream Piano," it's as if the jammy, loose, playfulness of Father of the Bride never happened, as if we're getting a grittier, darker follow up to 2013's Modern Vampires of the City, which is often referred to by many as the band's grand opus. I really enjoyed the unexpectedness and loose experimentation from Father of the Bride and it's undoubtedly great, but at the end of the day it still sounds like a bloated, unfiltered solo project from Koenig rather than one full band's collected, completed vision. That collected, completed vision is as clear as day on Only God Was Above Us, which sounds like the band honing their strengths, expanding their signature sound, and creating a record that is quintessentially New York. Shrouded in smoke, grit, and hope, they share a vision of New York that the trio are only able to create.
At ten songs with a forty-seven minute runtime, Vampire Weekend don't play around but rather tighten up their sound and provide quality tune after quality tune, much of them clearly sounding like what the band does best. The band is once again collaborating with Ariel Rechtshaid on production, who is basically a core and vital member at this point. The overall sound of the record is grittier, noisier, and has a sense of battered, worn out darkness than previous records (even their third one) but has optimistic beauty. The album is also reminiscent of the grime of 80's New York along with the music to come out of the city during that time. "Ice Cream Piano" explodes right out of the gate with a fiery intro in a punky fashion reminiscent of an "Unbelievers" but much more in your face. "Classical" is a major highlight that features sharp, piercing guitar tones (which you'll hear throughout the album) over bustling jazzy percussion from Tomson, standup bass from Baio, and a squawking, fantastic saxophone solo towards its end. My only complaint is that I wish it was longer. Lead single "Capricorn" is a gorgeous traditional acoustic ballad that's one of the band's best written and performed ballads in their entire career. It gets better with each listen and its grand instrumentation matching with the high pitched guitars cutting in the chorus is great. "Gen-X Cops," which was released as the other lead single, isn't as hard hitting as the previous ones but is still a solid, upbeat rocker with a great fast-paced tempo, despite it sounding a little redundant of previous songs from their other records.
"Connect" is a sharp but unexpected one that features a range of progressions, some excellent piano "drops," a smooth vocal performance, some weird low-pitched vocal sampling, a drum beat that acts as an homage to the drum beat from their classic "Mansard Roof." It could be cut a bit since its repeating ideas throughout the five minute runtime but regardless it's an album highlight that will most likely be a fan favorite at live shows. "Prep-School Gangsters" is the pretty cooldown that features the classic strings, guitars, and croons you know and love from the band. "The Surfer" is an unexpected change-up that is arguably one of their most experimental songs they've recorded. It's gorgeous and slow burning with a hauntingly beautiful sound that can only be described if you've heard songs like "Ad Astra" or "Take Care" from Deerhunter's Fading Frontier. "Mary Boone," referencing the infamous art thief of the same name, is one of the band's best, most complete, and perfect tunes they've ever made. Sampling Soul II Soul's hit "Back to Life," it's a glorious song that perfectly brings together all of its instrumentation into something that truly comes to life from record. The MVOTC-like choir vocals, smoothly chilling vocals from Koenig, the hip hop beat, swirling piano, warm sitar... it all fits perfectly together like a jigsaw puzzle. The boys should really be proud of this one. It's certainly one of the year's best songs if not the best.
If there's any song that's reminiscent of the band's previous album, it would be "Pravda." Although it sticks out a little from the other tracks in the track listing, it's still pretty, light and airy with its jammy, jumpy, psychedelic instrumentation. The eight-minute "Hope" closes the album with a hopeful optimism that can only come from the band. It's a pretty piano ballad that gallops along in a satisfying and sentimental fashion in their own way, as if their riding off into the sunset, hopefully waiting for the next sunrise to come. That's really Only God Was Above Us in a nutshell, which would be the unrattled optimism that the band is presenting here. Amongst the band's other records, this one solidly stands on its own two feet and is one of the band's best. The performances are fantastic and the band are impressively full of new ideas, while also reminding us time and time again of what they do best. Vampire Weekend are well aware that the indie rock boom is long gone but that won't effect them from making some of the most essential music of the year, let alone the past fifteen. The band are masterful at their craft and it's clear as day that on Only God Was Above Us there's no other band that can accomplish what Vampire Weekend have set out to do.
My Rating: 9 / 10
Favorite Songs: "Mary Boone," "Classical," "Connect," "Capricorn," "Ice Cream Piano," "The Surfer"
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