By Colin Young, News correspondent

For most college students, Beirut involves pingpong balls and red Solo cups. For those in the musical know, it involves ukulele, brass sections and worldly folk tunes.
That’s the creative vehicle Beirut, fueled by Zach Condon, 23, who released a double EP Tuesday on Ba Da Bing Records. The two EPs, collectively titled March of the Zapotec/Holland, feature different styles from one another ‘- and the group’s two previous albums ‘- without alienating loyal fans or turning off new listeners.
March of the Zapotec is influenced by Condon’s trip to the Oaxaca region of Mexico, according to his website. All of the songs were written and recorded in Oaxaca, too, with the help of The Jimenez Band:’ Oaxacan ‘march masters.’
The influence and presence of The Jimenez Band is felt as soon as the short instrumental tune ‘El Zocalo’ fades in to open the album. From then on, the EP sounds like a Mexican parade complete with a drum line and Condon’s musings over unrequited love, as in the song ‘La Llorona.’
‘No man could ever steal her heart / but with bright gold coins I’ll take my shot / And all it takes to fall / if you don’t walk, might as well crawl,’ Condon sings.
‘My Wife,’ an instrumental track driven by bellowing tuba, heartbreaking trumpets and accented by Condon’s signature ukulele, is the next stop along the parade route. The song’s persistent rhythm becomes dull, seeming to lack a vital component. The track lasts just more than two minutes, but the album would not suffer without it.
In general, most of Beirut’s material draws heavily upon another trip Condon took ‘- to Europe ‘- after he dropped out of high school at the age of 17. The trip exposed him to Balkan folk music and Parisian chanson, he’ has said, and helped shape the sound of his first two albums, Gulag Orkestar and The Flying Club Cup. Now, Condon has expanded his realm of influences ‘- proof he is not hesitant to try new things.
The best song off March of the Zapotec is ‘The Shrew.’ The song, which closes the first EP, is a near-perfect amalgamation of a Mexican horn composition and Condon’s folksy vocals. The tune is also one of Condon’s favorites, according to a Jan. 26 interview with Vassar College’s The Miscellany News.
‘This song, I wrote when I was, I think, 16 or 17,’ he told The Miscellany News. ‘And then I re-did it and took it down to Mexico and it just sounds awesome. I mean, for me, that’s kind of a favorite. You know, that song has a long history for me.’
After ‘The Shrew,’ and without any kind of transition, the second EP begins with a catchy synth-pop tune called ‘My Night with the Prostitute from Marseille.’
All five songs on Holland were written by Condon under his pre-Beirut moniker Realpeople, and were recorded in his New Mexico bedroom. The only resemblance to previously released Beirut material is Condon’s vocals, and with the recent popularity of mash-up DJs, listeners might think that Danger Mouse combined Beirut vocal tracks with club beats.
The one true gem on Holland is ‘The Concubine,’ the least electronic song throughout. It opens with accordion, joined quickly by a melody pounded out on a toy piano. The rest of the EP is fun, light and fairly entertaining, but it is by no means Beirut.
Despite good intentions with March of the Zapotec/Holland, Beirut fell short of what was expected. Rather than releasing a double EP, Condon and friends should have concentrated on their Mexican-influenced music and released March of the Zapotec as a full album. Then, Holland could have been for sale on their website as a novelty disc.
Hopefully Condon will keep this momentum and try his hand at other styles soon to impress fans once again; every band deserves a re-rack in their career.