The preppy afro-pop posterboys are back with their sophomore Contra, and if you liked their self-titled debut, you are likely going to love this album.  There is more of an electronic element at work here, almost as though Vampire Weekend has been mixing in some Hail Social with their usual list of influences.  The result is progress without reinvention, and I was pleased to get an invigorated dose of this flat out fun band.

Contra isn’t an exact pick-up where they left off, though opener “Horchata” might lead listeners to think so.  

Once the album moves into “White Sky”, it starts to become more clear that the band is stretching its legs a bit.  This is primo indie pop, with a little electro thrown in.  An enjoyable light number, though frontman Ezra Koenig’s cutesy cooing shriek after each breakdown is almost too much to take.

“Holiday” dances around the fretboard and features the band’s trademark clean and tight guitar work.  It doesn’t make you think much, but the understated quality, particularly of the bass guitar, is part of the whole aesthetic.

“California English” includes some electronic elements, even some very minor auto-tune for Koenig.  I’m not sure that was necessary, and honestly I think the song would have been better without it, but the background vocal work is gorgeous and redeems an otherwise weak tune.

“Taxi Cab” features syncopated strings and piano as Koenig remembers a typically high-brow romantic interlude from another time.  I kept waiting for this one to popoff into a dramatic climax, but the tension is never relieved here.  Based on the focus on the vocals, I thought I was in store for a moment of confession, but I should have known better.  This band has never been about emotional depth or revelation, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Run” is far brighter, and sounds as though someone has plugged synthesizers into every instrument, the song plugging along with bleeps and blurps without being overcome by the electronic wave.

“Cousins” is a frenetic, rattling carouser.  The lyrics are rapid-fire, the guitar is buzzing, and the drums pound like a metronome in overdrive.  

“Giving Up The Gun” sounds less like the band we know, with Koenig vocalizing in more sweeping fashion than his usual indie yelp.  The production features more polish and layering.  Synthesized fuzz and echoes add depth.  This is a grander Vampire Weekend, complete with a sing-along fadeout.  

“Diplomat’s Son” is a Vampire-ized attempt at dancehall.  It includes a strange little sample from M.I.A. as part of the beat that at first seems odd, but does fit with this band’s quirky feel.  Koenig’s vocals are agile and fantastic, there’s just enough soul in the piped-in beats to keep things moving, and the song takes its time just enough to build effectively as more layers are piled on.  

“I Think Ur A Contra” was my favorite track on the record.  Koenig’s voice when combined with the ethereal electro-plinking going on in the beginning and slow build was enough to give me pause.  It was nice to see this band cool things down for a minute, and the result was surprising.  I think I almost heard a little Thom Yorke in there.  The acoustic and bongo closeout was a great comedown.  

Contra will assure that Vampire Weekend, a band with detractors as vocal as its supporters, will remain a giant on the indie pop scene for the foreseeable future.  Its release will no doubt fuel debate on whether the band is a one-note bunch of superficial elitists, or if there’s something more memorable and lasting about what these Cape Codders are up to.  What’s not debatable is that you will be hearing this record everywhere during the summer of 2010.