Wampire
Bazaar
POLYVINYL
6/10
While it has become quite clear with the rise of surprise albums and promotional tie-ins that the traditional album cycle of a few years between each release has been thrown out the window, putting out two full-lengths within about eighteen months of each other is still pretty rare. Portland, Oregon’s psych-rock duo Wampire has done just that. For their sophomore release, Bazaar, Rocky Tinder and Eric Phipps have harnessed their frenetic energy from nonstop touring and dove deep into the darker side of what their playful moniker suggests. Where Curiosity thrived on upbeat DIY house party sound that got the band started in the first place, Bazaar doubles down on synthesizers and minor chords. Of course you can still be upbeat with gloomier-sounding music (or vice-versa if you’re Belle and Sebastian), but with lyrics like “I’ll never really be alone” (from the haunting “Millennials”) it’s hard to see the light through Bazaar’s dark album cover.
