I Love You, Brain

Arrested Development & Vampire Weekend: It’s Been A Good Month

In the past month, the pop culture Gods bestowed upon me a new season of a favorite TV show and a new album from a favorite band. Both have been on my mind a lot, so I’m doing what our generation does when we have a thought: writing it on the internet and sharing it with maybe nobody, but that’s not the point. The point is I’m sharing it, which means it’s a real. Here you go, if you care about either or both of these things, this is my take on both…

Arrested Development — Season 4

To me, success for this fourth season of Arrested Development was more about not failing than actually succeeding. Considering that’s how I approached it, I’m hard pressed to say for sure whether this season was a success but I do know for sure that it didn’t fail. 

Clearly, this season couldn’t be like the others. I believe there may have been only one scene with all the cast members in it (George Michael’s graduation/birthday party) and for a show that usually experienced its highest points when multiple cast members shared a scene at once, this was a tough hand to be dealt. I struggle to recall more than a handful of scenes that contain more than two central cast members. 

But somehow, the brilliant writing staff managed to make it work. The wildly intertwined story lines provided cover for the limited access they clearly had to the show’s stars, and actually wound up feeling rather progressive. This was definitely a season of television that 100% catered to the binge-watching streamers of the world, and wasn’t meant for once-a-week consumption. 

It sucked going two or three episodes without seeing certain characters at all, and I felt some of the story lines were particularly weak or awkward—Michael’s, Maeby’s, and George Sr.’s most noticeably. But certain episodes managed to blow the doors off in the way only Arrested Development can (the Gob/Tony Wonder episode is easily most memorable). 

If there is any major knock I have, it’s that they didn’t really complete the arc on what amounted to one crescendoing narrative. (What happened to Tobias on the boat? What happened to Lucille 2?). But I will forgive it when exchanged for some really strong bits that came in the final episodes (Buster’s giant hand and George Michael moving into the neighborhood with all the sex offenders). 

There was a tremendous amount of pressure on this fourth season, but in the end I’m glad they made it. They acknowledged a lot of the magical running gags that came before this season (Mr. F, chicken dance, corn baller, etc.) and started some new ones (mostly ostriches). In the end, I’m just happy they didn’t make a huge mistake.

Vampire Weekend — Modern Vampires Of The City

Before diving into my thoughts on this new album, I should divulge that Vampire Weekend is likely my favorite band of the past five years. Their first album dropped in 2008 right as I moved to New York, and their poppy, youthful, optimistic vibrancy resonated deeply with a 22-year-old kid unleashed on the big city. Then one particularly rainy afternoon that summer (I heard it described it as “biblical rain”) Vampire Weekend won me over forever, as my friends and I stuck it out, got soaked, played splashy games during the delay, and the band rewarded us all by playing a set full of energy and graciousness. They were sincerely blown away that so many people waited through the rain to see them, and a kindred connection formed inside of me. 

But as I awaited this new album, the band’s third, I knew those bubbly days of being 22 in a new city were gone—and to that end, I knew they were for Vampire Weekend as well (they are all my same age, more or less). After their second album felt familiar and rather derivative of their first, I worried that this third album could seal them up in a box of 28-32 year olds trying to rekindle the spark of their 22-year-old selves. Vampire Weekend would become a musical beer bong, of sorts—something you keep around to remind you of fun times, but you know it’s never going to be useful again. 

Thankfully, Modern Vampires Of The City (in spite of its name) is a more grown up collection of music. In fact, it’s among my favorite albums top-to-bottom since Arcade Fire’s Suburbs. Themes of aging, fear of the future, questioning what’s worth believing in all litter the album, which is more refreshing to hear than odes to falling asleep on your dorm room balcony. 

I’ve probably listened to the album five or six times, now, and while songs like “Unbelievers,” “Diane Young,” and “Finger Back” won me over initially with their token Vampire Weekend exuberance, it’s been songs like “Ya Hey,” “Step,” and especially “Don’t Lie” that have been resonating more on recent listens. I think all three of those songs represent the type of departure this album takes from what may have been expected of the band, and while they’re not quite as catchy I think they provide the balance of seriousness and perspective that an album made by people entering their 30s requires. “There’s a headstone right in front of you and everyone I know” is, strangely enough, exactly the kind of lyric I was hoping to see out of this album.

Thankfully, I believe Modern Vampires Of The City sets the tone for the Vampire Weekend that will provide the soundtrack to becoming actual adults instead of reinforcing the make believe we all played five years ago. There’s something really special about being the same age as the artists establishing the culture around you, and this album has made me tremendously happy to have tethered my ship so tightly to Vampire Weekend’s on that rainy afternoon in New York City in 2008.

veryaverygifs:

From “Drag-A-Long Droopy”

Okay, I’m a sucker. This one made me laugh out loud. I swear I’m done now. You can have your feed back. 

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From “Homesteader Droopy”

Six. Gotta end on a classic Looney Tunes maneuver.