Smart and Smarter
Robert Christgau’s marvelous take on Vampire Weekend’s Contra. Especially liked this: “But one result of the insanity is that these days there’s privilege and intelligence aplenty at pricey places like NYU, where I teach, and Wesleyan, alma mater of the r&b-jacking MGMT, who get none of this guff. Moreover, at every school there’s smart and then there’s smarter. Koenig is smarter and wouldn’t think of stifling it. Of course he threatens plodders and pretenders.”
And also, this: “Having declined to squeeze into the jammed club gigs of their ascent and then missed a storm-soaked festival stop last July, I’d never seen the band before the United Palace show, and they were a revelation — not only did I have a terrific time, most of it on my feet like everyone else, but I found myself scrawling ‘Jonas Brothers!’ in my notebook.”
