Rating: A+

There are few bands that can fuse African and Western classical music and make it sound good. Vampire Weekend is not one of these bands. Vampire Weekend makes it sound amazing.

“Unique” is only one way to describe the band’s sophomore album,”Contra.”

Keeping with the same vibes from its first self-titled album, the band meshed classical violins and harpsichords with African and reggae-inspired guitar chords.

Add into the mix a little bit of fresh electronic beats, and the band has a No. 1 album on Billboard’s Top 200.

One song that best describes this mixed sound is “Diplomat’s Son.”

The song is introduced with electronic synths, laying down a beat that would make Bob Marley proud, while a “chai-cha–cha” chant begins to be repeated almost through the entirety of the song.

Ezra Koenig, the group’s lead vocalist, flows with ease while still hitting a wide range of notes, wavering in tone. The vocals put the listener in a carefree state of mind as the lyrics seem to spill from Koenig’s mouth with simplicity. He raises the tempo for the bridge as he sings, “Cause I’m gonna cut it where I can / And then I’m gonna duck out behind them / If I ever had a chance it’s now then / But I never had the feeling I could offer that to you.”

“Contra” offers a wide range of tempos, but the quality of the music doesn’t change from track to track.

In fact, one of the most infectious songs on the album is the slow-tempo “I Think You’re a Contra.”

The song begins with soft keyboards, similar to Thom Yorke’s “The Eraser.” The melody feels heavenly as Koenig delightfully whines the chorus, which is simply the title of the record.

The highlight of the song comes with the lyrics of each verse. A great example of this is the second verse when Koenig sings, “My revolution thoughts / Live in lies of desire / I wanna trace them to the source / And the wire / But it’s not useful now / Since we both made up our minds / You gotta watch out for yourself / So will I.”

The listener is hard-pressed to find any demerit within the album. Trust me, I searched.

From beginning to finish the album is an instant classic, if not for the world at least for college- aged listeners.

The group remains unwary singing about love, partying and the rest of college life without bluntly hitting the listener across face with heartache stricken or vulgar lyrics, which is hard to find in this day and age.

The album was released on Jan. 12, and sold 124,000 records in its first week.

It is assumed the album will rise to a certified status within the coming weeks, but it still leaves listeners asking, “When can we get more Vampire Weekend?”

Brad York can be reached at 581-7942 or bayork@eiu.edu.