Album Review: Vampire Weekend, Only God Was Above Us

If you had to pick them out of a line-up, it’s Vampire Weekend alright. However, you might have to peer a little closer, for this present incarnation is a tad more ruffled, cryptic and zanier. They’re still definitively New York, though not in the preppy, new wave manner they’re often associated (perhaps unfairly – as early as Contra, VW were blending synth-pop, Afro-pop, calypso, reggae and ska).

This time around, the group have embarked on a Joycean ramble of Manhattan, replicating its sights, sounds, memories and indeed fantasies. The album title comes from a 1988 New York Daily News headline, utilised on the striking cover, which frontman Ezra Koenig describes as “Pink Floyd meets the Beastie Boys”. That ain’t a bad soundbite for the album itself, which features wacky-but-wonderful arrangements from VW collaborator Ariel Rechtshaid.

For inspiration for his vocals, meanwhile, Koenig made contact with minimalist pioneer Terry Riley, dipping his toes in raga, the spiritual Indian form of singing. Raga itself is not immediately apparent on Only God Was Above Us, a Riley-style approach is evident on ‘Gen X Cops’, on which the drums were recorded 10 times.

Elsewhere, ‘The Surfer’ contemplates how water gets from upstate New York to taps on the Lower East Side – echoing both Riley’s use of repetition and his unique worldview. For good measure, VW’s unveiling of the album at a show in Austin – during a total eclipse of the moon – adds to the far-out feel of the entire project.

8/10