Having made their eponymous debut in 2008, Vampire Weekend’s follow up cuts a more deliberate course to what their long-term sound may in fact be. Their debut was as eclectic a mix as you could hope for in an up-and-coming act; it seemed all too willing to please and bore repeated listening to explore their depths, seek out influences and wallow in the grandeur they were attempting (part middle-era Beatles, part calypso? Ok…). Contra takes a more mannered approach – the band isn’t jumping from one genre to the next between tracks; embracing an Indian sensibility with opening track ‘Horchata’; keeping their tempo up and blending some ska-flavoured beats throughout, as on the track ‘Holiday’. But Contra is more controlled, more disciplined, and it seems as though they’ve forgotten that is was the mild anarchy of Vampire Weekend that made it so interesting.