We are so back! Hi, everyone. Sothany Backtano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this new Vampire Weekend, Only God Was Above Us.

Here we have the fifth full-length LP from your favorite Ivy League, blueblood, privilege as an esthetic, indie pop darlings, Vampire Weekend. A group that, if you remember, came in hot with that "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," that multi-genre, multicultural, multi-era music fusion in the late 2000s, and they made some great records with it in the process, Contra, Modern Vampires of the City. Albums that were loaded with tons of catchy, sweet, oddball tunes that went down smooth despite being based on a mind-boggling combination of influences, be that Jamaican ska or Central African rhythms and guitar lines, contemporary folk songwriters, classical music, hip hop, of course, Paul Simon, big heaping helping of Paul Simon. The band faithfully stuck to this catchy yet chaotic sound for over a decade, but then went through a bit of an awkward transition with the departure of a long-time member, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Rostam Batmanglij.

He officially left the band in 2016, but has had a few production credits since, including on this album. Without Rostam in the mix, it became painfully clear just how key he was to the band's versatile sound on their following record, Father of the Bride. It wasn't a memorable album, and it's pretty definitively the bottom rung in what is overall a very tight and consistent discography from Vampire Weekend.

And while I didn't think Ezra Koenig and the boys would not necessarily go back to their old sound on future releases, I did go into this album hoping for some bounce back, and I'm happy to report on this album, not only are we so back, but Only God Was Above Us is truly a return to form in the best way.

There are 10 tracks on this thing, cut, clean, just a straightforward 10. This tracklist is not messing around. Bringing snappy sentimental tunes led vocally by, of course, Ezra's very youthful boyish vocals. Fun production that brings back all of that crazy mixed instrumental palate, mixed fidelity mayhem. The band, once again, is showcasing this wild mix of various genre nods, Indian classical music, Congolese guitar licks, Baroque piano breaks, and everything in between.

The opener, "Ice Cream Piano," eases us into things, instrumentally anyway, with lots of lofi, fuzzy bits of guitar and piano, building up slowly in the background as Ezra's words, project images of war, police, authoritarianism, and using this as a means to explore some interpersonal conflict or maybe even an internal conflict with him singing about a singer who doesn't sing or somebody who makes very bold statements nobody's hearing because they're being put quietly or maybe just not stated at all. But the true selling point of this track me is honestly the band chemistry because once this track picks up, Vampire Weekend is rocking with the galloping snares, hammered pianos, and buzzing guitars. There are some amazing string sections toward the end of the track, too. It is a complete and utter riot in the best way.

The following track, "Classical," also begins by firing on all cylinders, pounding drum loops, lots of ride cymbal, which are topped with watery keyboard cords and some spicy searing guitar leads. Also, as a bass player, I love that upright bass. That upright sounds so good on this entire album. I love how on this track and many others, Vampire Weekend is able to assemble something that sounds so methodical, yet also casually tossed together. Those wild sax and piano trades deeper into the track. That stuff doesn't just happen by accident, happen randomly, but it is so explosive in its energy and performance. It feels like lightning in a bottle.

Things do calm down, though, and get a bit dreamier on the tracks to follow, namely on the song "Capricorn," which I don't think has the strongest core progression on the record, but the vibes are certainly there. The mix hits with just the right amount of reverb to make the guitars and everything sound a little dazzling. In fact, I wouldn't say Vampire Weekend is just simply looking to hand over a pretty slow burner on this track either, because past the midpoint, things get experimental and harsh, especially with these very brittle and glitchy cord swells on the chorus. And there's also this little solo bridge the song has. That sounds like either a guitar or a synthesizer being bent, being stretched to the point where it's screaming for mercy. It's a beautiful racket that I feel like could really only come from a vampire weekend at this point. Either that or it's a little reminiscent of early Animal Collective.

Moving on to the song "Connect," though. This track manages to be catchy through a series of very subtle instrumental moves like the slightly woozy and warped piano keys throughout the track that sound like they're being played off of a broken tape machine. And then the lyrics on the track deal very much in a loss of personal or emotional connection and interest with lyrics like, "I know once it's lost / It's never found / The grid is buried in the ground." And once again, this is yet another track on the album where the rhythm section, especially that upright bass, is sounding killer and really giving a nice, strong, tasteful, flavorful backbone to the entire thing.

Then with "Prep School Gangsters," I'm not sure if any band other than Vampire Weekend could put out a song with such a title. But this track as well finds a lot of power in simplicity with some light toms on the drums, and downstromed guitars. Meanwhile, the lyrics on the track tie into a couple of different themes on the album, namely the idea of a protagonist facing some greater threat or power that they are smaller in comparison to the prep school gangsters mentioned in the title of the song. They're not exactly the heroes of this track.

It's at this point, though, we're at the halfway mark of the album, and it's in the second part of the LP that I think things get a little spotty. "The Surfer" is handily the sleepiest and blandest song on the album by a mile or two. Production-wise, there's not a whole lot that stands out about the track. It's washed out. The instrumental palate is very average in comparison with some of the other songs here. There's not a whole lot of cool or interesting breaks or transitions. Even the hook doesn't really stand out. I think Ezra's lyricism could use some work as well as some of the similies are a little basic and even a little redundant in tone or framing, like this mention of broken bodybuilders or runners losing races.

Then there's "Gen-X Cops," which I will admit did stun me as a single, especially with these wild punky, gothed-out lead guitars. The performance is good, but I feel like lyrically and narratively, this song feels redundant in the progression of the album that once I heard the entire thing, I got a sense of how conceptual and heavy on the narrative side, the story all of these songs cumulatively was telling. There are other rockers on the album that also deal in cops, deal in war, deal in conflict, deal in authoritarianism to some degree. This track also brings a lot of these ideas up, but doesn't do it in a way where it feels like there's any further expounding on it, no extra revelations.

"Mary Boone," though, is pure magic with its sparkling piano cords, its head nodding beats, its cascading string layers, and churchy frost choral vocals. I mean, this track is already a banger before we've even gotten into the lyrics which are very potent in their emotions of longing and yearning.

Following this, "Pravda" is one of my favorite tracks here by far. This song helps also bring the story of the record to a conclusion because it is very much about leaving, separating yourself from a person or situation with a lot of illusions to Russian culture in some of the framing and some of the references, with "pravda" being the Russian word for "truth" and Ezra talking about taking the family. He also sings about this person's consciousness, whatever is weighing on that, not being his problem. He has very much had it with whatever this dynamic is that he's dealing with and referencing in his songwriting.

Then with the closing track, "Hope," we have a bit of resolution with a very dissonant instrumental finish, which is fitting and cathartic despite the fact that we're leaving at a point where it doesn't feel like things have completely fixed themselves. Because what Ezra is hoping for on this track is that despite the outcome, the conflict, whatever is going on here, having some very bad results, hopes that everybody can just move on, get past it, let it go. And given the way the record has progressed up until this point, I would say it's probably the most fitting closer you could imagine.

I'll say in comparison with some of Vampire Weekend's back catalog, I don't know if the highest highs are quite as high as my favorite moments off of Contra or even Modern Vampires, per se. But what I can say is that I think throughout this album, the songwriting melodically, and lyrically is absolutely killer and on point.

In fact, I love that most, if not all of the songs across this album all tie into a series of experiences and points of view that are very cohesive, very focused, because there are some very clear themes that Ezra is pulling from some personal experiences and putting into these songs. And simultaneously, he frames a lot of it around these ideas of, again, police, war, authoritarianism, stuff that I think is a bit more observable and universally accepted and experienced in the wider world by a lot of Vampire Weekend fans. So it's as if the album could be experienced on a couple of different levels.

On top of this, I will say as far as the production and instrumental qualities of this record go, Vampire Weekend is sounding as creatively quirky as they ever have, which is great. Then I'll say one more thing. I feel like this album breaks vampire Vampire Weekend's very awful, very bad habit in their tracklist, having at least one or two painfully annoying, unlistenable, obnoxious songs that I usually have skip or just ignore their existence entirely. This album is completely free of that. In fact, it is a very smart, well-put-together LP that, as far as I'm concerned, is just really no skips. Like the lowest moments on this album are listenable, are a vibe, and the best moments are fantastically performed, written, produced.

Absolutely fantastic and impressive record from Vamp Weekend. I'm feeling a light to decent nine on it, in fact.

Anthony Fantano, Vampire Weekend, Forever.