Beach House
“Teen Dream”
4 Stars out of 5

Teen Dream,” the third release from Baltimore’s Beach House, is one to be talked about, be it from blogs or hipster friends who think they know more when it comes to cool new music.

Making the leap from indie label Carpark to Sub Pop, Victoria LeGrand and Alex Scally make slightly dark, hypnotic music that’s impossible to turn away from. Lush, atmospheric and delicate pianos from Scally seamlessly lend themselves to the sometimes-quiet but often-soaring vocals from LeGrand. Fans of Grizzly Bear might recognize LeGrand’s vocals from her guest appearance on their hit single “Two Weeks,” from their latest album, “Veckatimest.”

The single “Norway” demonstrates Scally’s dextrous and intricate piano work while LeGrand’s alto vocals provide their standard gorgeous and haunting aura to the song.

The always-under-the-radar buzz band of 2009, Beach House is looking like the next indie band to “blow up” in 2010. Included with their physical CD is a DVD with videos for every song, including a bonus one, each by different directors, just to add that crazy-cool Beach House touch.

Key Tracks: “Norway,” “Used to Be,” “Zebra”
-Melissa Virzi
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Vampire Weekend
“Contra”
3 Stars out of 5

Following the unlikely success of their 2007 debut, Vampire Weekend found themselves in a difficult situation. The haters who had been calling them out from the start for their privileged backgrounds and pilfering of African music were eager to watch the band fall into the dreaded sophomore slump on its second album. Unfortunately for them, “Contra” works on everything that made the band so appealing in the first place without coming across as tired or repetitive.

“Contra” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Charts, becoming only the 12th independently released album to do so since Nielsen Soundscan began in 1991. Despite the band’s current media saturation, the new record is more musically experimental than its predecessor. Sure, the chirpy guitars, piping keyboards and Ivy League lyrics are still there (singer Ezra Koenig rhymes “horchata” with “balaclava” on the album’s opening song) but the songs reveal an expanded musical ambition within the quartet. “White Sky” finds Koenig using his voice to create a sort of squawking vocal hook and “Cousins” employs break-neck guitars and drums to create an absolutely frenetic lead single.

The success of “Contra” not only affirms Vampire Weekend’s musical prowess but means they’ll never have to worry about flavor of the week or one-hit wonder status ever again. Koenig and the kids are here to stay.

Key Tracks: “White Sky” and “Cousins”
-Chris Payne