Vampire Weekend's New Album "Contra" Out January 12th

Vampire Weekend revealed on their official Website today that their second album Contra will be released on January 12th, 2010. The "Oxford Comma" band also revealed the album's track list, and judging by the 10 songs listed, the LP is not a concept album based on a certain militarized Nintendo game (though "Diplomat's Son" sounds like it could be the subplot for a Delta Force sequel). The album's track list also features the polyrhythmic "White Sky," which Vampire Weekend debuted on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and during the All Points West Festival.

"These songs would be perfect for driving up the Pacific coast," guitarist-keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij, who is once again serving as producer, told Rolling Stone when we visited the band at work in Brooklyn's Treefort Studio back in June. Added singer Ezra Koenig, "We're taking what we did on the first album to the next level." Also featuring on the album is the frenzied punk scramble of "California English" and the power balled "Taxi Cab."

News of Contra first leaked out when, according to Pitchfork, mysterious images with a blonde girl wearing a polo shirt (obviously) began popping up online. The ads linked to a Website called IThinkUrAContra.comâ€"taken from the album's final trackâ€"that eventually jumped automatically over to the new album announcement over at the VW official site. We're not sure if this is first phase of a bigger scheme or the most undercooked viral marketing in history, which would be unfortunate, given the awesome potential to utilize the Konami Code as a set piece if Contra goes viral. Regardless, we have a date and a track list for Contra, which you can see below:

Contra
1. "Horchata"
2. "White Sky"
3. "Holiday"
4. "California English"
5. "Taxi Cab"
6. "Run"
7. "Cousins"
8. "Giving Up the Gun"
9. "Diplomat's Son"
10. "I Think Ur a Contra"

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Song Stories

“Let My Love Open the Door”

Pete Townshend | 1980

A peppy, hopeful love song, "Let My Love Open the Door" became a U. S. Top Ten hit for Pete Townshend in 1980, anchored by the kind of repeating synthesizer figures that he'd used in some of the Who's recordings in the previous decade. Although Townshend brushed the song off as "just a ditty" in Rolling Stone shortly after its release, in 1996 he revealed it was about love of the holiest sort. "It's supposed to be about the power of God's love," he remarked. "That when you're in difficulty, whether it's major or minor, God's love is always there for you."

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