Vampire Weekend

Performer: Vampire Weekend
Producer: Rostam Batmanglij
Distributor: Alternative Dis. Alliance

Notes: Personnel: Ezra Koenig (vocals); Rostam Batmanglij (organ); Chris Baio (bass instrument); Christopher Tomson (drums). Anybody who thought the seemingly bottomless well of musical breakouts from New York would have dried up by winter 2008 got a shock from the rapturous reception given this impressive debut. Foregoing hipster Brooklyn for the more collegiate Upper West Side campus of Columbia, the quartet's music follows suit. This is hardly the loft-party lysergia of their counterparts across the East River; rather, it's a catchy cocktail of ethno-rhythms, psych-lite instrumentation, twee sensibilities, and an Animal Collective-style, anything-goes spirit. Instead of feigning street cred, the band wear their upbringing on their sleeves (literally), with songs about Cape Cod and the polo shirts and deck shoes to match. While Paul Simon's man-child melodies appear all over VAMPIRE WEEKEND, cuts such as the stand-out single "A-Punk" recall another quartet of infamous Africa-plundering, New York preppies: the Talking Heads. With guitarist Ezra Koenig's intricately inventive lines, Chris Tomson's ever-shifting grooves, and Rostam Batmanglij's faux-melodica keyboard melodies, Vampire Weekend have the musical muscle to merit the fever-pitched hype. With the Internet able to build up or tear down artists almost as soon as they start practicing, the advance word and intense scrutiny doesn't always do a band any favors. By the time they've got a full-length album ready to go, the trend-spotters are already several Hot New Bands past them. Vampire Weekend started generating buzz in 2006 -- not long after they formed -- but their self-titled debut album didn't arrive until early 2008. Vampire Weekend also has just a handful of songs that haven't been floating around the 'Net, which may disappoint the kind of people who like to post "First!" on message boards. This doesn't make those songs any less charming, however -- in fact, the band has spent the last year and a half making them even more charming, perfecting the culture collision of indie-, chamber-, and Afro-pop they call "Upper West Side Soweto" by making that unique hybrid of sounds feel completely effortless. So, Vampire Weekend ends up being a more or less official validation of the long-building buzz around the band, served up in packaging that uses the Futura typeface almost as stylishly as Wes Anderson. At times, the album sounds like someone trying to turn a Wes Anderson movie back into music (it's no surprise that the band's keyboardist also writes film scores); there's a similarly precious yet adventurous feel here, as well as a kindred eye and ear for detail. Everything is concise, concentrated, distilled, vivid; Vampire Weekend's world is extremely specific and meticulously crafted, and Vampire Weekend often feels like a concept album about preppy guys who grew up with classical music and recently got really into world music. Amazingly, instead of being alienating, the band's quirks are utterly winning. Scholarly grammar ("Oxford Comma") and architecture ("Mansard Roof") are springboards for songs with impulsive melodies, tricky rhythms, and syncopated basslines. Strings and harpsichords brush up against African-inspired chants on "M79," and lilting Afro-pop guitars and a skanking beat give way to Mellotrons on "A-Punk." It's a given that a band that's this high concept has hyper-literate lyrics: the singer's name is the very writerly Ezra Koenig, and you almost expect to see footnotes in the album's liner notes. Once again, though, Vampire Weekend's words are evocative instead of gimmicky. The irresistible "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" rhymes "Louis Vuitton" with "reggaeton" and "Benneton" and name-drops Peter Gabriel (though it's clear the band spent more time with Paul Simon's Graceland) without feeling contrived. "Campus" is another standout, with lines like "I see you walking across the campus...how am I supposed to pretend I never want to see you again?" throwing listeners into college life no matter what their age. Koenig has a boyish, hopeful quality to his voice that completes Vampire Weekend, especially on bittersweet but irrepressible songs like "I Stand Corrected" and album closer "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance." Fully realized debut albums like Vampire Weekend come along once in a great while, and these songs show that this band is smart, but not too smart for their own good. ~ Heather Phares

Rolling Stone (p.78) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[They have] a suave sound that incorporates ska, New Wave and Afro-pop....Vampire Weekend mostly earn points the old-fashioned way: by writing likable songs you'll be glad to revisit next month." Rolling Stone (p.89) - Ranked #10 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums Of 2008 -- "Casual as a cardigan, willfully optimistic, ultratuneful and surprisingly danceable, VAMPIRE WEEKEND is built to last." Spin (p.91) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Vampire Weekend have made a truly fresh, fun, and smart record....They spit witty lyrics on subjects they clearly know..." Spin (p.50) - Ranked #14 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "What really matters is the sheer youthful effervescence and musical ingenuity of these Ivy Leaguers' self-titled debut." Uncut (p.88) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "VW show themselves possessed of great strength of character, unafraid to wear hearts, or intelligence, on their sleeves." Alternative Press (p.153) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Combining elements of ska, reggae and Afro-pop with traditional rock structures, songs like 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa' have a carefree energy..." Q (Magazine) (p.109) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Extremely inventive....Vampire Weekend are the musical equivalent of a Wes Anderson movie..." Blender (Magazine) (p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Vampire Weekend's version of globalization is to tightly and smartly woven to be mere dilettantism..." Harp (magazine) - "[A] no-dud sleection of instant party starters....[With a] breezy, endless-weekend sound..." Clash (magazine) (p.71) - Ranked #2 in Clash's "The 40 Best Albums of 2008" -- "[An] eclectic mix of upbeat indie, Afrobeat and 21st century baroque..." The Word (magazine) (p.105) - "[A] debut album of quite dazzling brilliance and novelty....These songs are a joy, both intelligent and catchily uplifting."

With a novel world-music-tinged indie-rock sound drawing from reggae, classical, new wave and worldbeat, New York City's Vampire Weekend wowed audiences, bloggers, and critics long before even signing to the XL label and releasing their debut in 2008. Formed at Columbia University, the eclectic rock quartet tie together their diverse influences with a keen pop sensibility; it is a combination that has drawn comparisons with Paul Simon and the Talking Heads, and earned heavy praise from head Head David Byrne himself. While the image of trust-funders pairing African beats with songs about upper-class affectations and fripperies on songs like "Oxford Comma" sparked a minor indie-world controversy, the hubbub merely fueled the buzz for the outfit's rave-reviewed self-titled debut.

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