Her Take: Lightspeed Champion- Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You

Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You, the latest offering from Lightspeed Champion, tells a loosely tied together story of heartbreak, misery, and an eventual ascent back to happiness. In keeping with the style of 2008’s Falling Off the Lavender Bridge, easy and beautiful melodies mesh with unexpected lyrics. Unfortunately, the unexpected lyrics are still too predictable with themes of sadness and failed relationships. Maybe if Falling Off the Lavender Bridge hadn’t been so refreshing, I wouldn’t have expected so much from Life is Sweet.

The album is a pleasant enough listen, fading into the background quite easily, but it is hardly memorable. "Sweetheart", "Madame Van Damme", and "Middle of Dark" are highlights, but the rest of the album is just so-so.

Her Take: Beach House- Teen Dream

by Cori

The first time I heard Beach House- 2008's Devotion- it nearly put me to sleep. I couldn’t understand the buzz and excitement about the band, and I hastily stashed them away in the “overrated” section of the filing cabinet in my head. Given that initial experience, I am not entirely sure what prompted me to give their new album, Teen Dream, a spin. The name alone is pretty off-putting, bringing to mind angst and drama and all the things I hated about high school. Maybe that’s just my neuroses showing.

To say that I didn’t expect much from Teen Dream would be an understatement. Happily, this album seems to be the perfect soundtrack for a rainy day with its fluffy, soft ambience and easy melodies. Stand-out tracks on the album include Silver Soul, 10 Mile Stereo, and Lover of Mine. The vocals and music nestle perfectly together for a sound that gives equal weight to both parts, creating a dreamy feeling. While Teen Dream may not have convinced me to put Beach House into regular rotation, hearing something completely different from time to time is really refreshing.

Her Take: Vampire Weekend - Contra

by Cori

Picture this. It’s August 2007, standing outside a shabby little dive bar on Van Buren waiting for a show to start. Everyone is excited- the band has a unique sound, the songs are intelligent and we all know the words, even though the self-titled debut album won’t be released for another five months. The band is Vampire Weekend, and they experience overnight success.

Moving back into the present, the band has just released their second album, Contra. The naming of the album seems oddly appropriate- as though it were the rebellious teenage phase of the band’s growth. Maybe the boys are still suffering the fatigue of success, but Contra strikes me as lazy, lackluster, and predictable. Let us examine it closer, shall we?

The first track, Horchata, was released well in advance of the album. This song is incredible in that they managed to somehow distill everything great about their style into one homogenized, repetitive piece of crap. I hated it the first time I heard it, and I hate it now. The rest of the album falls pretty flat, with a few notable exceptions. Giving Up the Gun is the only song on the album that I truly enjoyed, and the delicate piano melody of Taxi Cab softened my cold black heart enough that I could almost forgive the band for the vocoder voice effects ala Kanye West in California English. Almost.

I had high hopes for Vampire Weekend- they put on a great live show and that first album was a breath of fresh air. For now, I am going to cross my fingers, put Contra away to gather dust, and hope that this is that mythical sophomore slump- not the direction of growth for this young band.