Unlike past efforts, the overall tempo of this album has noticeably decreased. The number of “slow songs” or slow-building songs on the album is much more apparent than it has been before. Opening track “Obvious Bicycle” is one such song, with keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij playing a melancholy piano riff over lead singer Ezra Koenig’s crooning voice as he bounces to and from falsettos. Of all the mellow songs on the album, “Step” stands out, with Koenig’s soothing vocals over a medley of piano and synthesizer progressions. Drummer Chris Tomson keeps the beat so strong and steady throughout the track that head-nodding or foot-tapping is impossible to avoid.

Tomson shifts about five gears up for the following song, “Diane Young” — a track that, along with the speedy rhythm of “Finger Back,” would be easily at home in either of the other VW records. Single “Diane Young” feels like a modern-day adaption of the swingin’ big band songs, with Koenig pitch-shifting the lyric “baby, baby, baby, baby right on time” over groovy guitar riffs and rapid-fire drums. There’s even a “Wipeout”-esque drum and guitar roll thrown in — just in case your head and hips weren’t shaking enough.

Modern Vampires of the City is the album that VW has been building up to. While it’s not always a constant ball of energy, the balance of warm melodies and funky riffs make for an appropriate and satisfying conclusion to the band’s trilogy.

Ian Birnam covers music. Contact him at ibirnam@dailycal.org.

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While the boys left little room for error by way of crowd favorites — highlights included “White Sky,” “Diplomat’s Son,” and “A-Punk” — the performance felt short and substantially lacking in girth and gusto. For being creatures of the night, the vampires seemed either too fatigued or too scared to show off or venture at all from studio renditions of their songs. Some tracks even felt shorter than their originals as the band hastened to reach 20 songs in the short hour.

The band has been accused of what could be called boyish, 20-something shyness in the past, likely stemming from their sudden rise to fame after all having graduated from Columbia University and self-producing their first album in 2006. But sheer amateurism alone can’t account for the members’ general lack of enthusiasm before a decidedly non-Oakland audience on Wednesday night.

Blame their cool, preppy aloofness or post-Coachella fatigue, but the band’s virtual lack of crowd engagement felt like disinterest over all else. The Fox show felt like an afterthought for the band, an unnecessary “Oxford Comma” splicing its ambitious Coachella weekend sandwich in two. Indeed, even the encore felt altogether contrived and Koenig couldn’t seem to effectively deliver the line, “But actually Oakland and not Alameda / your girl was in Berkeley with her Communist reader” with sufficient shout-out enthusiasm that an expectant (and paying) audience deserves.

Contact Bonnie Mata at bmata@dailycal.org.

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In addition to the fab Sir Paul, Willie Nelson will be jamming at the festival as well with his family, providing another 70′s legend in the mixture of the modern music giants. In addition to the aforementioned bands, Jurassic 5, Vampire Weekend, The National, Pretty Lights, and The Head and the Heart will all be playing as well.

More recent up and comers will be there as well, such as Tallest Man on Earth, Grizzly Bear and Atlas Genius will all be performing off the coattails of their recent(ish) album releases. The festival will also feature some prominent local acts such as Thao & The Get Down Stay Down.

I could go on for awhile about how incredible this year’s lineup is. I could go on about how producer/DJ legend Zedd will be there to the adoration of electro-junkies, or how Flea will melt the crowd’s faces off with funky bass slaps, or how Trent Reznor will undoubtedly shred the microphone with his voice. But each artist on the bill could have an entire blog post dedicated to them. Instead, if you can’t wait for August to come, you’d be best served to snag the next round of tickets when they go on sale this Thursday.

Ian Birnam covers music. Contact him at ibirnam@dailycal.org.

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1) The Lovely Bad Things, “Fried Eyes”

2) FIDLAR, “Cheap Beer”

3) Palma Violets, “Tom the Drum”

4) Martin Buscaglia, “Oda a Mi Bicicleta”

5) Cafe Tacvba, “Encantamiento Intuil”

6) Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, “How Long Do I Have To Wait For You”

7) Rhye, “Open”

8) Autre Ne Veut, “Counting”

9) Torres, “Honey”

10) Savages, “Husbands”

11) Haim, “Don’t Save Me”

12) Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Sacrilege”

13) Doldrums, “She is the Wave”

14) Blue Hawaii, “In Two”

15) Vampire Weekend, “Diane Young”

As always, you can stream the playlist right on Spotify!

Contact Hailey Simpson at hsimpson@dailycal.org or follow her on Twitter at @hailey117.

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After recording their self-titled debut album in 2008 in New York, they opted for a change of scenery for their second album, Contra, by coming out to L.A. and giving us sunny West Coast jams like “Horchata” and “California English”.

Well it turns out, their love affair with the Golden State continues on one of the new singles from their forthcoming album Modern Vampires of the City (due to be  out May 7). “Step” is a subtly gorgeous, slow-burning number with a string-bass foundation and an appealing melody. As I was kicking back and giving it a listen, I heard this coming from speakers:

“While home in New York was champagne and disco

Tapes from L.A. slash San Francisco

But actually Oakland and not Alameda

Your girl was in Berkeley with her Communist reader”

And then it goes on to say “Mine was entombed within boombox and walkman / I was a hoarder, but girl that was back then,” and other such random musings. I’m still not exactly sure what the hell they’re talking about, but I can tell you that any reference to my favorite California cities causes instant excitement and pride.

I have a feeling this song will get quite the reception when Vampire Weekend comes to Oakland in April.

Also check out the second single, “Diane Young.”

Contact David Bradford at dbradford@dailycal.org.

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