In March 2012, Girls mastermind Lena Dunham told NY Mag, that “[Millennial] lostness and that questioning — I wish I could say that it completely went away when you were getting to do the thing you wanted to do, but unfortunately, that’s not the truth.” The most recent season of Girls featured a number of guest roles/cameos starring Millennial actors, but none was more on-target than that of Vampire Weekend singer/guitarist Ezra Koenig, who delivers a single line in the season’s sixth episode. Although he didn’t get much screentime, Koenig is the perfect choice for a cameo on what - for better or worse - is the show arguably most associated with Millennial generation. (Either because of its portrayal of the group or because of the large amount of discussion it generates about the group.) Vampire Weekend have been around long enough that the show’s target demographic remembers the release of their 2008 debut during their time in high school or college, and kept enough of a tab on the band to watch Koenig - along with multi-instrumentalist/producer Rostam Batmanglij, bassist Chris Baio, and drummer Chris Tomson - transform from Pitchfork darlings to Billboard 200 chart toppers. They’re also old enough to recall that upon their hype-doused arrival, Vampire Weekend were perceived by some critics to be snooty, upper-class, and out of touch with the rough, DIY aesthetic that runs through indie rock’s veins. But on Modern Vampires of the City, the band’s third album, the group not only presents themselves as more human than ever before, but is also completely confident in proving it.

Although Modern Vampires is the band’s biggest stylistic leap yet, it isn’t because they’ve ditched any of the clever, athletic, and colorful tendencies that made the band so charming in the first place. However, they’ve taken their greatest strengths and made them sharper than ever before. Every element of the album, from the production to the arrangements to the pacing, feels like a logical evolution. For example, Koenig’s lyrics on Modern Vampires are as academic as ever - that hasn’t, and probably won’t ever change. He does hold a B.A. in English from Columbia University, after all - but for the first time, he sounds vulnerable. (It’s worth noting here that since the release of 2010′s Contra, Koenig broke up with his long-time girlfriend and spent an uncomfortable period on Los Angeles before moving back to New York.) On the band’s first two albums, Koenig’s lyrics embodied a wide range of moods, each of which undoubtedly contained a degree of the singer’s personality, but the words on Modern Vampires are more emotively direct. For every Koenig-esque mention of African cities or a Latin phrase, there’s a lyric that atypically reveals the sentiment behind Koenig’s narratives quite directly. “Our days were long/our nights no longer”, “Maybe she’s gone and I can’t resurrect her/the truth is she doesn’t need me to protect her”, “Is this the fate that half of the world has planned for me?” - all key lines on Modern Vampires that show Koenig’s growth as a lyricist. Like the upper-class subjects of Vampire Weekend and Contra, he relates with his characters, but is also completely aware of their shortcomings in spite of their privilege. Koenig continues to juxtapose these conflicts on Modern Vampires, but this time it’s the desire for youth and curiosity with the attaining of wisdom and achievement. He examines euphoric recklessness (“Diane Young”), romantic insecurity (“Hannah Hunt”, “Step”), and squares off with God on three occasions (“Ya Hey”, “Everlasting Arms”, “Unbelievers”), but never really answers any of the questions he asks in those songs.

That’s okay, though, because along with his better-than-ever vocal performances, he can sell this uneasiness with the help of Batmanglij, the other half of VW’s creative core, who has evolved too. Sharing producer credit for the first time (co-piloting the album with producer-of-the-moment Ariel Rechtshaid), the songs on Modern Vampires sound more nuanced and detailed than the previous two albums (which are both very well-produced albums.) Part of the credit for this sonic leap should go to Rechtshaid; not many producers know how to make both Usher and Vampire Weekend sound sharp, and his presence behind the boards is palpably beneficial to the band. (Especially to Tomson, whose percussion has never utilized such a wide variety of textures to such great success.) The other part of the credit should go to Batmanglij and Koenig’s songwriting. Although the tempos and instruments used in the songs are familiar to the band, they’ve learned to work in more subdued atmospheres while continuing to hone their songcraft. The album’s more upbeat tracks (“finger Back”, “Unbelievers”, “Worship You”) opt for warm, consistent textures rather than the manic explosions that shaped “A-Punk” or “Cousins”, but the slower tracks are where the band’s arrangements really shine, particularly the looming “Hudson”, radiant opener “Obvious Bicycle”, and “Hannah Hunt”, the album’s centerpiece and most cutting moment. After three minutes of quiet, melodic storytelling, Koenig yells the song’s dramatic hook: “If I can’t trust you/then damn it, Hannah/there’s no future/there’s no answer”. Although the titular character is named for a classmate of Koenig’s, it’s easy to draw the conclusion that Koenig is singing to Hannah Horvath, the protagonist of Girls, and by extension, his generation as whole. If “Hannah Hunt” were on another reference-heavy, theme-obscuring Vampire Weekend album, this conjecture probably wouldn’t hold up, but in the light of Koenig’s more direct approach, it clicks perfectly. When he gets to the last part of the refrain - “Although we live on the U.S. dollar/we got our own sense of time” - there’s a sense of comfort in the way he delivers the line. Koenig is aware of the malaise that plagues him, Dunham, the rest of the band, and so many others, but he isn’t hung up on it; he’s just going to keep on doing what he does best: trying. More than anything else, Modern Vampires of the City exudes a newfound confidence from Vampire Weekend, one that shrugs off the internet haters in favor of fearless exploration and expression. Although they admit there will always be uncertainty along the way, Vampire Weekend have weathered enough peanut gallery criticism and played too many scorching daytime festival slots to not carry on working towards finding some sort of satisfaction.

Modern Vampires of the City is best summed up by, of all things, this GIF. Aside from being a quintessentially Millennial image format, it shows the band somewhat awkwardly spraying champagne on a rooftop in Midtown, ostensibly to celebrate the album’s release. None of the members look particularly comfortable spraying expensive alcohol just for the sake of spraying expensive alcohol, but they’re enjoying it nonetheless. Like the band, the characters in Modern Vampires - the Saab-burning super rich kid of “Diane Young”, “Step”‘s uneasy romantic, the desperate theologian of “Ya Hey”, and the confused lover of the titular “Hannah Hunt” - aren’t particularly certain about their respective predicaments, but they’re pressing on in the post-YOLO world they’ve created for themselves. (as Buzzfeed’s Matthew Perpetua points out in his fantastic analysis of the album.) What makes Modern Vampires of the City not only one of the year’s best albums, but also the band’s overall best LP, is that it’s able to paint a sympathetic portrait of a frustrated Millennial without falling prey to the verbose, Thought Catalog-style masochism that seems to end up serving as the most comprehendible take on that age group. A completely satisfying next step in an already great career, Modern Vampires of the City shows that whatever comes next for Vampire Weekend, the kids do, in fact, stand a very good chance.

all photos by Jim Bennett

A couple times a year, Starbucks, STG, and KEXP team up to put on the Little Big Show - a little show with a big impact - where 100% of the proceeds go towards helping the arts stay alive for young people. This evening’s sold out show raised over $14,000 for The Vera Project, the non-profit all ages music venue at the Seattle Center where artists at any age can hear music, participate in the music scene, learn to screen print, and more. But the beautiful thing about the Little Big Show series is that people end up supporting the arts whether they like it or not, because the bill is always too good to pass up. Tonight’s show was no exception. Jim James headlined in support of his fantastic debut solo record Regions of Light and Sound of God. Together with London based soul group Cold Specks, the Little Big Show’s sixth installment was an astounding success.

To anyone who’s seen James play with My Morning Jacket or Monsters of Folk in the past, it’s no secret that the man is a prolific musician and an eclectic jam band guru. On the record, Regions is a gorgeous exercise in brevity. Each song begs to go on for another five minutes, grooving out in each possible direction, but each ends in a perfectly manageable fashion and leads on the next without any hesitation. But Regions as a musical body of work can only be fully understood in the live setting. James and his band played the record track for track in order, but not once did the audience have an idea of what would happen next. Each track evolved into an individual animal onstage. Opening with “State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.)”, James floated from one side of the stage to the other, dancing with the groove and hashing out the verses with infinite precision. But as the energy built, the band only got tighter, and once all of the Neptune was moving along with the beat, James picked up the electric guitar and lit the house on fire.

The most rewarding tracks were the ones where James ventured furthest from the template. After the psychedelic groove of “Know Til Now”, the band played a 10 minute version of “Dear One”, involving another heart-stopping guitar solo and a maniacal 4 minute drum solo, which ended with the band all coming back on stage and ripping into the chorus one last time. The simplistic beauty of “A New Life” shifted the energy back down to a whisper, but only long enough to build back into another extended folk groove. “Of The Mother Again” and “Actress” both had the crowd dancing nearly as much as James. But the highlight of the live variations came with “All Is Forgiven”. As the song faded out, a staticky, glitching drum n bass beat came over the speakers as James picked up his saxophone and threw down a tribal solo line as the band played alone. Only at a Jim James show.

For the encore, James further pleased fans with “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)”, from the My Morning Jacket record Circuital, as well as smattering of tracks from the Monsters of Folk release. With each, James continued his jam band tendencies of letting the track ride out as long as it needed to. This was, of course, not a problem at all for the audience. He left us all with our ears tingling and our sense of awareness newly refreshed. Another iteration of the Little Big Show went off with flying colors! The next Little Big Show will happen in October! Keep listening to KEXP in the coming months to find out who will play and which organization will benefit! And check out more incredible pictures of Jim James below:

photo by Dave Lichterman

• Chelsea Light Moving have shared a new video for their hardcore, psychedelic rock song “Lip.” This happens to be the bands first ever music video and it looks like they chose to make a bit of a political statement. The track sounds like a rebel’s anthem, so it’s very fitting that it features riots and protestors clashing with cops. See what you think of their first venture into videos below. [Stereogum]

• Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, is offering a taste of whats to come on his future record, Kiss Land, by releasing the title track. Tesfay gives us almost eight minutes of smooth, sensual vocals over dirty lyrics and a screaming background (literally). The song is a contradiction cloaked in darkness with a hint of sexy. Pulling off that odd combination takes serious talent. [CoS]

• Laura Marling has released the third single from her upcoming album, Once I Was An Eagle. “Once” is a light and airy ballad that allows Marling’s delicate voice really shine. Look for her new record on May 28 via Virgin Records. [Stereogum]

• Earlier this week I shared one of Queens of the Stone Age‘s creepy cartoon music videos and it seems they have created another (yay!) for our viewing pleasure. This one is for the band’s song “My God is the Sun” and it has an apocalyptic vibe with cars on fire and dead bodies. The images were created by Boneface, the same guy who designed their album cover. [Pitchfork]

The ascent of electronic producers from the obscure underground scene to the fringes of pop mainstream is a path that is becoming more and more common these days, and few have done it as seamlessly and organically as San Francisco’s Barrett Richards, best known to the music world as Kastle. With a forward-thinking sonic vision that skillfully balances infectious, sexy, bass-heavy beats and seductive, emotional, heavily-treated vocals that bounce off woozy, synthetic soundscapes, Kastle’s new, long-awaited, self-titled debut album captures an en vogue fusion of electronic, R&B, hip-hop, and pop elements that’s an ideal soundtrack at the club, in the bedroom, and on the headphones.

Emerging onto the cutting-edge bass scene in 2010 with a debut single on the Philadelphia-based, Starkey-helmed label Seclusiasis, Kastle’s dual talents as both DJ and producer garnered quick notice and fandom, due largely to the power of the Internet and Soundcloud. Expertly curated mixes that placed a spotlight on his formative love of American R&B and UK 2-step/garage popped up on Soundcloud to instant acclaim, amply showcasing his musical roots and talents on the decks. His productions continued to mature and flourish, evidenced by another strong EP in 2011 for the highly-selective folks at the Belgian label Silverback Recordings before -- in a move that’s becoming standard these days -- Kastle formed his own label, Symbols Recordings, to release both his own music and music by artists he’s excited by that fit a similar vibe to his own distinctive, simmering style.

Late last month Kastle dropped his self-titled debut LP on his own label and it comes off as a perfect culmination of the many hats he’s been donning of late. While his previous releases were largely instrumental-heavy affairs that featured uncredited vocal samples, the new record is dominated by vocal collaborations with a handful of labelmates and friends, most notably the recently-signed, Miami-based singer Austin Paul on three tracks. The presence of vocals adds a strong, welcoming pop sensibility to his underground club rhythms that continue to find a warm balance between slower, moodier numbers and more kinetic, body-jacking tunes aimed for the dancefloor, confidently flirting with house, dubstep, garage, hip-hop, 2-step, and R&B flavors throughout. Fittingly, the record’s final track features guest production help from bass veteran Starkey, the same artist that brought his first release to the public, providing a wonderful full circle aspect to his years-in-the-making debut album.

Performing a live set tonight at 1927 Events with a kindred talent in UK-based DJ/producer xxxy (his Boiler Room DJ set at last year’s Decibel Festival was a personal highlight – go early!), it’ll be intriguing to see and hear how Kastle fares on his own without live help from the numerous vocalists featured on his record. But even with their expected absence, his solo talents as a producer (and as a DJ) should be on full display and give you a good reason to lose yourself on the dancefloor.

KASTLE (Live) with xxxy
Friday, May 17, 2013
1927 Events
1927 3rd Ave
Seattle, WA
9 p.m., 21+
Tickets available at dbfestival.com

photo by Brittany Bollay

More than a band, Savages is an idea. Guitarist Gemma Thompson said it herself during an in-studio session at KEXP: “We had the idea originally and wanted to put everything we’d all accumulated individually into creating a performance that had a sonic representation of the name Savages.” Their deliberate intention tends to separate them from many of their contemporaries and actually puts them closer in touch with their inspirations (like Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, The Cure and Wire), so it’s not surprising Savages spent a year developing their ferocious live attack before successfully solidifying their sound on album. When they arrived at KEXP, they told us that this would be Savages first performance live on the air in the U.S. If they were nervous, you’d never know it, as they ripped through four songs from Silence Yourself with elegant brutality. (see also at NPR Music)

You can do anything with a bike... Even make music!
The Barr Brothers photo by Jim Bennett

It’s time again for Friday on My Mind, our weekly blog post where we look at videos centered around one common theme. This is a collaborative effort between KEXP and King 5 News.

May is officially National Bike to Work Month. There have been events taking place all month that have been designed to help motivate people to get on their bikes. Bike to Work Day originated in 1956 and was started by the League of American Bicyclists, which still remains a national sponsor of the month. Part of the goal is to increase the amount of cycles on the road as a means of generating political momentum and making a statement to transportation planners and politicians that networks of bicycle trails, lanes, boulevards, signage, and new innovative facilities need to be created and maintained. Today is the official F5 Bike to Work Day. There will be dozens of commuter stations around the city today, including in our very own parking lot. So in honor of this day and month, we’re looking at videos with artists biking!

Lily Allen – LDN

“LDN” from Lilly Allen is our next song choice. “LDN”, which is shorthand for London, was originally released on a limited 7” vinyl and only 500 copies were made. The song was re-released after the success of her single “Smile”. Allen said she found inspiration for this song from a 1802 poem written by William Wordsworth called “Composed Upon Westminster Bridge”. Here is the official video for “LDN” from Lilly Allen’s 2006 debut album, Alright, Still. This video shows Lilly during a sunny bike ride through London.

Nada Surf – Whose Authority

New York’s Nada Surf have been making music together for 20 years now. “Whose Authority” is taken from the band’s 2008 and 7th album, Lucky, which was released on Seattle label Barsuk. Here is the official video for “Whose Authority”, where we see a day in the life of a bike messenger cycling through New York City. During his day, he even encounters the fine fellows of Nada Surf.

Supergrass – Alright

When it was originally released, Supergrass’ 1995 album, I Should Coco, became Parlophone’s biggest selling debut album since the Beatles’ Please Please Me. After seeing the video, Steven Spielberg asked the band to do a television series in the same vein as The Monkees. The band declined. It’s easy to see where Spielberg would make the Monkees connection. Check out the official video for “Alright” in which we see the the Supergrass boys in wacky situations, including taking a bike ride where they cross paths with a very English looking man on an old timey bicycle.

Honorable Mentions:

The Smiths – Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before

It’s Morrissey. Being Morrissey. On a bike. With a basket. Wearing a Smiths T-Shirt. Leading a group of Morrissey wannabes on bikes down the streets of England. From the 1987 album, Strangeways, Here We Come, here is “Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One Before”.

Flight of The Conchords – Foux De Fa Fa

Gerard Depardieu, baguettes, and bikes.

May is Bike to Work Month, and Cascade Bicycle Club and KEXP is supporting the movement by participating in F5 Bike To Work Day, which is today, Friday, May 17. To help fuel all of you bikers, KEXP will be hosting an Energizer Station from 6:00AM to 9:00AM, where you can get your bike checked out for any maintenance issues and grab a refreshment. At 7:45AM, the F5 Bike To Work Day Rally will begin outside KEXP studios with Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, who will lead the group into the city toward Seattle’s City Hall. On your way home, stop by Via6 downtown, from 4:30PM to 6:30PM, for an after-party featuring KEXP’s own Greg Vandy, as well as grub from Tom Douglas Restaurants.

In celebration of Bike to Work Day 2013 and Bike to Work Month, here are some bicycle videos to get you pumping those pedals!

photo by Will Miller

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Fallen Giants” a 2013 self-released single by Seattle band Kithkin.

Unlike the rest of the bands featured on this podcast, Kithkin don’t even refer to themselves as a band: they’re a “Cascadian youth tribe”. Fantastical motifs figure heavily into the band’s image - their Facebook lists the band members as Spirit Treader, Tin Woodsman, Bigfoot Wallace, and Shredder - their music contains more hallmarks of manic, guitar-driven indie rock than J. R. R. Tolkien. The quartet’s percussion heavy live show earned them a good reputation around the Pacific Northwest, and they’ve since expanded their touring routes empire with shows on the rest of the West Coast (including a rainy show at Hood to Hood 2013.) Featuring mountainous percussion that recalls a more muscular Ravenna Woods, “Fallen Giants” resonates with the kind of epic presence that’s usually only found during the closing titles of Peter Jackson films. As a piercing organ shines through the thick, pounding wave of drums, the song tells a majestic and sometimes odd (“I was a zebra with bleached blonde hair”) tale of starting anew. As the chorus descends into a “Secret Meeting“-style battle cry of “I don’t want to die for this!”, the song reaches a fever pitch so grandiose that it may very well validate their claims of mystical powers.

Kithkin play their next show (“a very special Twin Peaks themed set”) at the Crocodile on May 21st as part of the Scrapper premiere afterparty. Get info and tickets for that show here and keep track of the band’s adventures in and out of Cascadia over at their website and Facebook. Watch the video for “Fallen Giants”, which was lit entirely by handheld flashlights, here:

There is a place where the sounds and sights of summer are always abounding and where you can sing about the beach all year long. That place, according to Zach Yudin, is Cayucos, California. His project Cayucas (formerly called Oregon Bike Trails) is an unapologetic love letter to the feeling given to those who have the rare blessing to live near this magical place. This feeling of endless summer is what the Beach Boys gave us decades ago - the feeling that can warm your heart no matter how much you shiver when you go outside. And for that reason, beach tunes should never go away. Sure, they may not be deepest, most profound gaze into the abyss of the human soul, but with Cayucas debut LP Bigfoot, Yudin gives us the soundtrack to a summer of abandon, where there is nothing dark and life moves just a bit slower. Pulling hints from Pet Sounds and other great offerings of 60′s surf pop along the way, Bigfoot is an easy record that you could listen to again and again until the sun finally sets on the beach.

Bigfoot’s eight offerings are stories from summers past, where the sunburns lasted for weeks and the memories even longer. Yudin’s two openers, “Cayucos” and “High School Lover” are both pitch perfect pop tunes documenting sunny adventures. The first is a perfect day in the warm weather, surfing and dancing around campfires and driving around in between events. It doesn’t really aspire to be anything more complicated than it is, but this perfect hook line and sinker of a track could serve as the city’s theme song for years to come. “High School Lover” could be a story told around the campfire that night about a crush that could have turned into more. Nothing more than it needs to be, Yudin croons away with a smile on his face retelling this charming tale of youth and love. After all, those are the stories you tell among friends on the beach - the ones with laughs on all sides. Capturing the existential symbolism of the season, Yudin perfectly captures the spirit of a time with no regrets and nothing wrong. Among the waves and the laid back guitar riffs, there is an air of peace.

On the second half of the record, Yudin begins to explore some more complicated song-work, building his crescendos higher and his arrangements thicker. In a lot of ways, it’s like reaching the middle of a perfect day, where the wonder has receded a bit so that appreciation can settle in. “East Coast Girl” brags to visitors about the wonder and delight of the great state of California, while realizing that time is fleeting, and “Ayawa’kya” is a delightfully cheerful exercise in goofy Vampire Weekend-esque detail. But the two treasures of the record are “Deep Sea” and the title track, by far. From its spacious noisy introduction the very last note, you can hear the Beach Boys classic Pet Sounds all over this song. The mixture of sound and landscape is absolutely gorgeous, mixing a quiet whistle, an arrangement of flutes, and bells and chimes abounding. Lyrically, “Deep Sea” is the best tune on the record, taking a quiet break in a summer’s day to explore a small bit of life’s hardships and, as a result, falling in love just a bit. It’s here that Yudin explores a difficult idea: summer isn’t forever. There’s a season for everything, and on “Deep Sea”, there’s a bit of foreshadowing at summer’s end. But the record doesn’t end on a melancholy note. “Bigfoot” is a heavy stomping ballad inspired by California’s favorite nonhuman fugitive. But “Bigfoot” never quite reaches an unbearable level of silliness. Rather, it explores loneliness amidst wonder and beauty. The tune is a total delight and the perfect closer.

Zach Yudin has made a near perfect entrance onto the scene as Cayucas with Bigfoot. It will be interesting to see how he follows the record up, but for now, we can just sit back on sunny days and enjoy his youthful narrative of a perfect summer’s day. Bigfoot is out 4/30 on Secretly Canadian on CD and vinyl (pre-order the deluxe bundle and get a beach ball!). If you want further listening, Bigfoot is streaming through Stereogum for a few more days. Catch Cayucas at Barboza on June 19. Tickets are available now.

screenshot from Consequence of Sound

• There is no end to the incessant, bizzarre, and wonderful sonic/visual spectacular that is The Flaming Lips. Last night on Jimmy Fallon the band played a version of Bowie’s “Heroes” wearing capes, hoods, and -- in Wayne’s case -- hardly anything at all, except for a loincloth and a full-stage rat’s nest of shimmering electric light tubes. The band also played “Try To Explain” from this year’s album The Terror. Check out the clips below, and head over to Consequence of Sound to also check out Wayne in a game of Pictionary with Jimmy Fallon, Demi Lovato, and Julie Cohen.

• The-Dream teamed up with Director X to make a video for “IV Play” -- his homage to “straight sex”. The video is shot on some quasi-futuristic concrete structure with lots of fog, lots of twerkin’ ladies, and a helicopter -- apparently The Dream’s preferred mode of transportation. The dance song of the summer? Could be. It’s got me moving before I’ve even finished my coffee on a Thursday morning. [Stereogum]

• Franz Ferdinand has announced they’ll be coming out with a new album -- Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions -- which is their first since 2009′s Tonight. Consequence of Sound has compiled live videos of eight of the ten new songs, and we’ve shared the one for “Right Action” below. The album was apparently recorded in a number of different studios across Europe, so it will interesting to see how the album comes together on its August 27th release via Domino.

• The So So Glos and Titus Andronicus are on tour to “Bring Back the Dudes”, and bring them back they have -- with a vengeance. It’s clear in the just-surfaced video of the two bands sharing the stage for a sweaty, drunken cover of the Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn” that the two bands are out to save the world from the dwindling presence of Dudes-who-don’t-give-a-fuck. Check out the video below, and thank these brave men for tackling a very serious problem in the music world today! [Stereogum]