Vampire Weekend - Contra

Vampire Weekend were easily one of the surprise success stories of 2008. Four white men trapped in black men trapped in white men’s bodies, playing music not heard since your parent’s living room circa 1987. With follow-up Contra, the New York quartet are likely to face that most inane of criticisms; it sounds just like Vampire Weekend. Such is the definite furrow they plough that this is something still likely to dog the band when they release album number fourteen. Contra doesn’t contain as much pop smarts as their eponymous debut, but then that record was such an explosion of ideas and styles that this seems more considered by comparison. That’s not to say it’s better, as their afro-rumba dance contains a couple of missteps, notably the meandering, vocoder-heavy California English, but the likes of lead single Horchata and the spry electro-bop of Run are certainly the equal of A-Punk or Oxford Comma. It's definitely a case of twice bitten. [Darren Carle]