Andra Chandra

First time Vampire Weekend listener, so I can’t really compare this to previous works yet, but this is my opinion: “Only God Was Above Us” is beautiful. Each track feels sonically interesting, from the opening track “Ice Cream Piano” that eases you into the album and picks up manically, all the way to “Hope”, a fitting, uplifting ending to the chaos. Lyrically, it deals with themes of war and inequality, ending on a hopeful and less pessimistic note of acceptance. Highlights for me are: -Classical, a catchy chamber pop banger with an insane sax solo -Connect, its unpredictable, and the most interesting sonically, best with headphones -Mary Boone, it’s magical, very easy on first listen, and not as jarring/noisy as some other tracks. You get plenty of great instrumental breaks featuring breathtaking piano arpeggios, and screaming slide guitar that doesn’t sound like a guitar, not sure what it is but it sounds great and cuts through everything. A lot of the songs grew on me a lot, and I personally really enjoy every single song from the album, even The Surfer and Gen-X Cops, which are songs I still really like overall, just not as much as the other 8. Overall 4.8/5. Highly recommended for anyone looking for an experimental indie rock sound, balancing noisy instrumentation and pretty orchestral elements.