Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires Of The City: All 12 Tracks Reviewed & Analysed

9. Worship You

As if the last track wasn't wordy enough, take the the beginning and accompany some official lyrics because Koenig seems incomprehensible on this track - falling over words and being too humorous with a song titled 'Worship You.' The charging rhythm that makes the whole song bounce and thrust forward has a clashing tone with the million words being spat out, so the track tries to sound more than it is, and sort of fails to really catch a catchy tune. Listen to the whole album, and you'll almost realize you didn't remember hearing 'Worship You.'

rating: 3.5

10. Ya Hey

The thematic centrepoint of the album, this track envisages Koenig in a conversation with none-other than the biblical god Yahweh himself. Koenig lets rip with his existential doubts, chastising the Almighty for his arrogance ("who could ever live that way?"). Koenig does his best to utter God's historically unpronounceable "real" name, mirrored by what seem to be a chorus of angels and seraphs (sounding like cartoon chipmunks). It's all based on the Old Testament verses from Exodus 3:14, when Moses approaches the burning bush and asks God to speak his name, and he responds by simply saying "I Am that I Am". 'Ya Hey' has a slower tempo, but manages to catch you by Koenig's voice - he seems more distant and affected. A slight harpsichord plunders in the background and the effected, squeaky chorus makes the two singles - 'Ya Hey' and 'Diane Young' - to have effected vocals. The vocal melody throughout the song takes you places, and Koenig tells a fantastic story along the way, with great lines like "All the tension and fear / of a secret career" and "Of you spinning Israelites / Into 19th Nervous Breakdown." As the track plunders its way to the end, it's powerful and resounding, like many other moments on this album. This song has so much genius abstract wordplay that it's impossible to keep up, with the greatest example being Koenig citing Yahweh's "secret career" as a reason for his policy of non-inteference with the world. Genius.

rating: 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-BznQE6B8U