Vampire Weekend

Add Date: January 12

Artist: Vampire Weekend

Album: Contra

Label: XL

Genre: Indie rock, Afro-pop

Comments: A lot of people go either way on Vampire Weekend: some folks appreciate these Ivy-League prepsters as they question the importance of the Oxford comma [on a personal level, I'm a steadfast defender of it] and somehow seamlessly pair the words "Cape Cod" and "Kwassa Kwassa;" others blast them for their pretentiousness and seem to think that the group's 2008 debut is little more than a disingenuous mimicking of Paul Simon's Graceland. Preps who sing songs about preppy things hardly seems like a cause to champion (unless, of course, you attend Washington and Lee).

But it's less the General and more the English major in me that absolutely loves Vampire Weekend's unique blend of guitar-plucking keyboard-twiddling percussive indie pop. As a sophomore record, Contra strikes the fine balance between reprising what the group did so well on its debut and truly developing the Afro-pop sound. To me, this record seems more delicately arranged, with parts complementing parts and weaving together into a unified whole that's short and sharp.

Kick-off track "Horchata" builds and bumps along; "White Sky" rides a wave of video-game keyboards before lead singer Ezra Koenig lets his voice twist and twirl and wail with joy, or whatever emotion you want to call it; "California English" is quick and clever, with only a touch of Auto-Tune. Other fine tracks include "Taxi Cab," which could be a Ra Ra Riot tune, and the warming "Giving Up The Gun," which is less choppy and angular than some of the band's previous work.

Fans of Wes Anderson's musical tastes will enjoy. And anyone who liked Koenig's contributions to The Very Best's Warm Heart of Africa record from last year will find some lovely tracks on Contra. And in a nod to pretentiousness, The New Yorker did a fine profile of VW earlier this month, if you can get your hands on that.