By Olivia Wray
Staff Writer
The older we get, the easier it becomes to be nostalgic about our childhood, especially through the music we enjoy.
Vampire Weekend, an American indie rock band that got together when I was in elementary school, released two songs last week from their first album in six years, “Father of the Bride.”
Any band that goes through such a long hiatus is bound to go through changes and struggle to stay on top, but Vampire Weekend is ready to perform fresh new songs.
After co-founder Rostam Batmanglij retired from the group in 2016, Ezra Koenig, lead vocalist and guitarist took action and knew he wanted to continue the band’s career, according to an article by Rolling Stone.
Vampire Weekend is similar to bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Two Door Cinema Club, The Strokes and The Black Keys. Defined by the categories of indie and alternative rock, their music is a mix of sounds.
Vampire Weekend’s most popular songs came around 2008, and their fans have been impatiently waiting for the group’s next release.
Some of their well known songs are “A-Punk,” “Oxford Comma” and “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” which are from their 2008 self-titled debut.
The song “A-Punk” was featured in the opening of the movie “Step Brothers” the same year the album was released, according to Tunefind.
“A-Punk” and the rest of the album was produced by Batmanglij who told the music publication, Genius, in an interview he and the band members were “ska kids.”
The band got together during their years at Columbia University and said that ska music had an influence on this song.
Coming from an Ivy League university, their music was known to sound preppy, young and moody.
“I don’t think of ‘A-Punk’ as ska because the guitar plays on the downstroke as well as the upstroke,” Batmanglij told Genius.
After a long six years, the band has changed in some ways as its members have grown older. There is also a slightly different dynamic with Batmanglij out of the group.
This can be seen in their two recent singles “Harmony Hall” and “2021.”
According to Spotify, “Harmony Hall” is the group’s current number one song with “A-Punk” now in second. “2021” is also in the top five, indicating that fans are excited to hear the new album.
“Harmony Hall” reveals lyrics about the spread of hate groups within high-class American universities. It has an upbeat sound that seems to be familiar to the band’s old music.
“And the stone walls of Harmony Hall bear witness/Anybody with a worried mind could never forgive the sight/Of wicked snakes inside a place you thought was dignified/I don’t wanna live like this, but I don’t wanna die.”
The song “2021” seems to reflect on the passing of time, in relation to the six-year gap.
This is the shorter of the two recently released songs and features a refrain throughout the song with singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis.
The band has taken their time putting immense effort into their new music.
With such a long time since their last release, there could be a lot of pressure for this one to be amazing. Fans are surely anticipating what is to come.
