Vampire Weekend has rediscovered the key to heaven on its fifth full-length album. “Fuck around and find out,” Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig gleefully exclaims on the opening track of the band’s latest album, “Only God Was Above Us.” Born from a Daily News headline, the 10-track album’s title references a 1988 plane crash where when recounting the striking visual of the aircraft’s roof ripping off, one survivor declared “only God was above us.” Fittingly, the genre-bending record is deeply interested in mining beauty from chaos, and for the most part succeeds. Read more...
Photo: The cover art for “Only God Was Above Us” depicts a public transportation passenger holding a Daily News paper whose headline reads the eponymous phrase. The Vampire Weekend’s latest full-length album includes the tracks “Capricorn” and “Ice Cream Piano.” (Courtesy of Columbia Records)