I really like them! Mind you, "Graceland" is one of my favourite albums ever, and I'd be happy if they veered more in that direction. They're very good live, too - definitely aware of how to put on a good show and involve a crowd.
― toby, Sunday, 27 January 2008 03:02 (sixteen years ago) link
If they don't become huge I'll be pretty disappointed.
i kinda <3 them and i dont care who knows - thats right ilx i have a crush on a blogrock band
― jhøshea, Sunday, 27 January 2008 03:52 (sixteen years ago) link
they're great! i had no idea until december or so.
― sean gramophone, Sunday, 27 January 2008 03:59 (sixteen years ago) link
I saw them and they sucked. There was one good part but it was really bland. Real thin sound especially juxtaposed with animal collective
― Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Sunday, 27 January 2008 04:01 (sixteen years ago) link
i totally totally <3 them
"Blake's got a new face!" is a Pixies chorus.
it's a quasi-reinterpretation of "One." i love the afrobeat-thrash section.
― gabbneb, Sunday, 27 January 2008 04:02 (sixteen years ago) link
Every description of them I hear makes me feel I won't like them, yet the people who like what I like like them, so I guess I should listen to them.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Sunday, 27 January 2008 04:07 (sixteen years ago) link
I've come around on them bigtime, and no longer want to break their kneecaps regardless of how hyped they get.
― Johnny Fever, Sunday, 27 January 2008 05:54 (sixteen years ago) link
I just saw them on MTV. I think it's some pretty boring stuff... I mean, the good thing is, they kind-of sound like the Feelies, but ... that's what, an almost 30 year old sound? Indie rock = zzzzzzcity baby.
― burt_stanton, Sunday, 27 January 2008 06:28 (sixteen years ago) link
http://nw.mit.edu/codeigniter2x/core/nathanwilson/images/why/hater_tots.jpg
― J0rdan S., Sunday, 27 January 2008 07:57 (sixteen years ago) link
sample youtube comment: "english beat is kinda gay though"
― whatever, Sunday, 27 January 2008 08:11 (sixteen years ago) link
it's true about the strokesian tidyness - it gives the refined impression of them being all fresh and not a part of the modern music industry merry-go-round, when really just like the strokes they are arriving at pretty much the perfect cynical marketing time for their sort of thing.
anyway i kinda liked some of their songs to begin with until i got dragged along to see fucking darjeeling limited and realized that these guys are the same reprehensible bullshit in audio form. they EVEN use the same FONT.
― r|t|c, Sunday, 27 January 2008 09:29 (sixteen years ago) link
god forbid.
― gr8080, Sunday, 27 January 2008 10:29 (sixteen years ago) link
I would like "A Punk" if it was something Jonathan Richman or whoever did twenty years ago, but because it's new I think it sucks.
― Bodrick III, Sunday, 27 January 2008 12:44 (sixteen years ago) link
Great point.
― Noodle Vague, Sunday, 27 January 2008 12:51 (sixteen years ago) link
Nice street-teaming from "Craig sobeski" too upthread. KEEP IT UP GUYZ
Thanks, man.
― Bodrick III, Sunday, 27 January 2008 12:53 (sixteen years ago) link
SHIT IS DEEP
― Noodle Vague, Sunday, 27 January 2008 12:53 (sixteen years ago) link
Stream the new album here: http://3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/
Fuck the hype. This album kicks ass.
― brightscreamer, Sunday, 27 January 2008 14:46 (sixteen years ago) link
got dragged along to see fucking darjeeling limited and realized that these guys are the same reprehensible bullshit in audio form
this
― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Sunday, 27 January 2008 14:51 (sixteen years ago) link
Why listen to A-Punk when you can just put on some late 70s/early 80s shit? I think that's a valid argument--is it good if it's just a reinterpretation of the acknowledged classics? It's like rock music has been raiding the crypt for a while now, and it seems like electronic music is doing the same. Remember. .. when there were -new- sounds, maaan?
― burt_stanton, Sunday, 27 January 2008 15:22 (sixteen years ago) link
― Noodle Vague, Sunday, 27 January 2008 15:28 (sixteen years ago) link
I loved Darjeeling Limited! Any other recommendations?
― brightscreamer, Sunday, 27 January 2008 16:27 (sixteen years ago) link
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/06_01/beatlesDM3105_468x299.jpg
― gabbneb, Sunday, 27 January 2008 16:39 (sixteen years ago) link
classical, jazz, reggae, rap---it's all old and been done before! I like "A Punk"'s mesh of old-school punk pop with a touch of Congolese guitarwork, even if it is not completely brand new and innovative.
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 27 January 2008 20:43 (sixteen years ago) link
Xgau on the Dead in 69: If rock is nothing but gut appeal contained within what Mickey Hart calls the "box" of the four-four beat, then the Dead no longer care primarily about making good rock. But if rock is music that makes you dance, then they may make the best rock of all.
― gabbneb, Sunday, 27 January 2008 21:00 (sixteen years ago) link
I don't care about the lack of innovation so much, it's the endless production line of rinky-dink skiffle bands being hyped to death that annoys. Especially if they've got a gimmick like "sounding a bit like Graceland".
― Bodrick III, Sunday, 27 January 2008 21:09 (sixteen years ago) link
britishes
― gabbneb, Sunday, 27 January 2008 21:25 (sixteen years ago) link
i surprisingly like this. kind of a lot
― jaxon, Sunday, 27 January 2008 21:27 (sixteen years ago) link
oh they're total rushmore music. total wes anderson soundtrack. but im ok with that
― s1ocki, Sunday, 27 January 2008 21:42 (sixteen years ago) link
i find it much harder to argue for vampire weekend's brilliance than for their awfulness -- the music is quite deliberately free of jagged edges or anything that may offend the ear (save for the singer's occasional yelping, which he really doesn't need to do because his voice is actually pretty good!), which is what i suppose people are finding 'refreshing' about it, but i am finding it hard to get excited about. it's certainly not terrible by any stretch of the imagination, just ... why is this supposed to be SOOO GOOD? do i really have to experience it 'in context' and listen to a thousand other bands that dont sound like VWE and dont have clean production? why can't i just put it on my stereo and like it? nb obviously context is important blah blah blah it just seems like people keep praising them negatively -- "i like them because they DONT sound like other stuff that's been released in the last 5 years in NYC!" it's not like there's a bunch of layers waiting to be uncovered on this record, so what am i missing that makes them so revolutionary? is the fact that they dont sound like they're from aughts NYC the only thing they have going for them? if they are to be appreciated on their own merits (and i agree that the 'african sound' hype is a red herring) then what exactly are they, besides not sounding cluttered?
i am asking these questions honestly and not trying to sound like a douche
― uptown churl, Sunday, 27 January 2008 21:45 (sixteen years ago) link
ok, is it a youthful, quirky/not quirky andersonian innocence that causes people to enjoy them? nostalgia for one's college days?
― uptown churl, Sunday, 27 January 2008 21:49 (sixteen years ago) link
the music scene in NYC has been so desperately dead since 2002 or so that I think people are grasping at whatever they can get. All the former big NYC bands this decade have moved to Philly, Berlin, etc; even small shitty towns in CA are kicking NYC's ass creativity wise.
In correlation to NYC's butt-raping rents? Perhaps.
― burt_stanton, Sunday, 27 January 2008 21:50 (sixteen years ago) link
there's a pretty big element of escapism involved w/ their music that i like
― J0rdan S., Sunday, 27 January 2008 21:52 (sixteen years ago) link
and beyond all the graceland stuff, the drummer and bassist are pretty good and way better than you'd expect from these dudes (best evidenced on "boston"). if anything i get annoyed by the singer/plinking keyboards, but when i'm in the mood i think they're pretty exceptional
as for other people liking them, it seems pretty clear to me: they sound kinda like the strokes, are pretty indie-pop but with enough unknown influences (for mtv-type listeners) to get ppl excited
― J0rdan S., Sunday, 27 January 2008 21:55 (sixteen years ago) link
"boston" = "ladies of cambridge" - maybe they used the former title in the UK?
sorry if you don't get them, hate fun, etc. lol, they're gonna be hueg.
― gabbneb, Sunday, 27 January 2008 22:11 (sixteen years ago) link
lol "hueg"
― Noodle Vague, Sunday, 27 January 2008 22:13 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah idk "boston" was just what i had it labeled as on their cd-r
― J0rdan S., Sunday, 27 January 2008 22:13 (sixteen years ago) link
i hear a big spoon influence in the band, certainly the biggest indie-rock touchstone. love the way their restraint means that moments of splendid harmony or rhyme shine just doubly triply quadruply, the smallest flourishes gleaming so glow.
― sean gramophone, Sunday, 27 January 2008 22:16 (sixteen years ago) link
You know as much as these guys aren't a great band, I'm glad to have someone this omnipresent doing something a little interesting than another four guys pretending to be Pavement or Talking Heads.
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Sunday, 27 January 2008 23:06 (sixteen years ago) link
fuck these motherfuckers
― da croupier, Sunday, 27 January 2008 23:09 (sixteen years ago) link
fucking fuckers are guarandamnteeing a Northern Exposure revival or some such shit
― da croupier, Sunday, 27 January 2008 23:10 (sixteen years ago) link
"oh, if only paul simon would YELP."
― da croupier, Sunday, 27 January 2008 23:15 (sixteen years ago) link
blurhgg. the more I hear this album the more I realize how boring and bland it is. It makes my blood turn into lukewarm oatmeal. I listen to it and I suddenly own a condo walking distance to Park Slope and I drive a Volvo.
It's a pretty sad testament to the state of NYC. 99% of the interesting bands have already bailed out of here, so this is what we've got left.
― burt_stanton, Sunday, 27 January 2008 23:24 (sixteen years ago) link
ILM should learn how to have fun.
― brightscreamer, Sunday, 27 January 2008 23:47 (sixteen years ago) link
sex, drugs, new, weird sensations and experiences, upsetting challenging ideas... that's fun. listening to the drywall-flavored music made by the blandoids who've come to dominate NYC and drive out all the really good bands/artists/writers/etc. isn't my idea of fun.
― burt_stanton, Sunday, 27 January 2008 23:53 (sixteen years ago) link
There are like two big x factors with these guys. First, the singer may be a pretty great pithy lyricist at a time when a lot lyrics are wordy and overwrought. Second, I have no idea how seriously they take themselves and I kind of like that about them. They way they make being in a band seem really easy is kind of obnoxious-but-charming. I think I may want to like them more than I actually like them.
Anyways, what good bands have left NYC? All I can think of is Liars, but a ton of bands that put out well regarded albums in the last two years are still there.
― call all destroyer, Monday, 28 January 2008 00:12 (sixteen years ago) link
remember when vampire weekend drove all the good bands and writers out of new york??
― s1ocki, Monday, 28 January 2008 00:14 (sixteen years ago) link
do not let vampire weekend into your city.
― gr8080, Monday, 28 January 2008 00:17 (sixteen years ago) link
Liars, Animal Collective, Enon (well, a few years ago they were good), etc. Think of a really cool NYC band in the past few years, look 'em up, and chances are they're probably now based in Baltimore, Philly, Berlin, or the West Coast.
I hear better stuff coming out of Sacramento these days than New York.
― burt_stanton, Monday, 28 January 2008 00:31 (sixteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxzM7FaGLOk
― max, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 04:11 (thirteen years ago) link
only becaue of u did i finally have the courege 2 find my real mother in ohio even with my prostehtic leg limbs. thank u
i8hannahsleg 1 day ago 4
― markers, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 04:25 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iPJHcX_dRs
― markers, Tuesday, 15 February 2011 04:29 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4BgfcHkfW0
three of his five uploads on youtube are about "crash"
it constantly surprises me how much i love this band. i still regularly play both albums (tho contra more than the debut)
― Mordy, Tuesday, 6 March 2012 02:35 (twelve years ago) link
otm
― stay in school if you want to kiw (Gukbe), Tuesday, 6 March 2012 02:41 (twelve years ago) link
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 6 March 2012 02:44 (twelve years ago) link
Damn. It's been more than year since we revived this thread?!
i'm not constantly surprised by how much i love this band, but i still very much love this band
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 6 March 2012 02:48 (twelve years ago) link
I see that they are gonna be at the Pitchfork fest and Vampire Weekend bassist Chris Baio has scored the upcoming Bob Byington film Somebody Up There Likes Me. The movie, which stars Parks & Recreation's Nick Offerman is set to premiere next week (Sunday) at South By Southwest in Austin, TX
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 6 March 2012 16:28 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, they grow on you.
― Raymond Cummings, Tuesday, 6 March 2012 19:17 (twelve years ago) link
I love this band too; every time I travel someplace where I feel like I'm stepping above my station (like I am now), these albums ring very true.
― Euler, Tuesday, 6 March 2012 19:18 (twelve years ago) link
i was just thinking the other day how contra struck me as really accomplished and well-done and how i haven't had any urge to listen to it (or heard any one else mention it) since it came out
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Tuesday, 6 March 2012 19:36 (twelve years ago) link
For those who care (admittedly, I don't):
http://www.nme.com/news/vampire-weekend/68008
Vampire Weekend's third album is influenced by jazz, Bob Dylan and The Clash according to Rostam Batmanglij.The multi-instrumentalist spoke to Uncut about the forthcoming album, the US band's first since 2010's 'Contra'. Discussing the influences and sounds the band are creating, Batmanglij said: "The goal was to use organic sounds and put them in a context that you might not have heard before. It's certainly darker and grittier than 'Contra'. A lot of these songs are about conflict. They're about the choices we can make, being able to do what we want with our lives."He added: "With 'Contra' I was interested in a kind of arty, '80's New York sound, but this album goes deeper. It gets into the '50s and some of it sounds like jazz, but broken down into its most basic elements and played in a very simple way. It's more of a subtle kind of complexity and there's an intimacy to the performances, both vocal and instrumental, that are very special. I think the sound of the piano is central to the record."Batmanglij went on to mention song titles such as 'Don't Lie', 'Hudson' and 'Unbeliever', which the band played during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's US chat show at Halloween last year. The guitarist compared the new songs to bob Dylan and The Clash, saying his friends told him the songs sound "scary".
The multi-instrumentalist spoke to Uncut about the forthcoming album, the US band's first since 2010's 'Contra'. Discussing the influences and sounds the band are creating, Batmanglij said: "The goal was to use organic sounds and put them in a context that you might not have heard before. It's certainly darker and grittier than 'Contra'. A lot of these songs are about conflict. They're about the choices we can make, being able to do what we want with our lives."
He added: "With 'Contra' I was interested in a kind of arty, '80's New York sound, but this album goes deeper. It gets into the '50s and some of it sounds like jazz, but broken down into its most basic elements and played in a very simple way. It's more of a subtle kind of complexity and there's an intimacy to the performances, both vocal and instrumental, that are very special. I think the sound of the piano is central to the record."
Batmanglij went on to mention song titles such as 'Don't Lie', 'Hudson' and 'Unbeliever', which the band played during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's US chat show at Halloween last year. The guitarist compared the new songs to bob Dylan and The Clash, saying his friends told him the songs sound "scary".
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 4 January 2013 23:05 (eleven years ago) link
last chance for them to not become completely irrelevant
― Shin Oliva Suzuki, Friday, 4 January 2013 23:37 (eleven years ago) link
I actually think both their albums hold up really well. First is better than the second, but both are good.
― scott pgwp (pgwp), Friday, 4 January 2013 23:44 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah I still go back to these quite a bit. Don't know how much more "relevant" you can get.
― Gukbe, Friday, 4 January 2013 23:49 (eleven years ago) link
I care! Was just listening to them last night. They're a good band, and I can't wait to hear the new stuff. I listen to plenty of retro-sounding stuff and wipe my ass with relevance daily, but to be fair, I don't think VW are completely stuck in the past.
― Fastnbulbous, Friday, 4 January 2013 23:55 (eleven years ago) link
Contra >>>>> first
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 5 January 2013 01:03 (eleven years ago) link
Even though I still prefer the first, I like that Contra is not just a rehash. It does some things differently and I think better. For instance, they took more care with the sound and production on Contra, and it shows. But overall I think the first is more consistent. But I'm definitely looking forward to hearing the new one.
― o. nate, Saturday, 5 January 2013 01:15 (eleven years ago) link
Contra is one of the best straight-up indie rock albums of the past few years.
― congratulations (n/a), Saturday, 5 January 2013 02:18 (eleven years ago) link
When I saw them in Chicago in July it'd been more than a year since I'd heard a single Contra tune and I wasn't exactly looking forward to the performance, but "Giving Up the Gun" and "Cousins" sounded as beautiful as usual and they brought it all back.
I've thought about them the last eight days as I've lived with the remastered edition of the English Beat's Wha'ppen.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 5 January 2013 02:20 (eleven years ago) link
OTM
― Old Boy In Network (Michael B), Saturday, 5 January 2013 02:28 (eleven years ago) link
i think contra > debut but both are great, catchy pop -- i'm excited + anticipating new album!
― Mordy, Saturday, 5 January 2013 02:29 (eleven years ago) link
That's a pretty incredible streak of positivity. I'm sorry I missed that summer show in Chicago. The only disappointing thing is there is not release date and they said they're not even done writing the songs, so at best we'll get at summer release, at worse, 2015 or later...
― Fastnbulbous, Saturday, 5 January 2013 02:57 (eleven years ago) link
yeah, both album are very good. looking forward to some new stuff by these guys.
― Bee OK, Saturday, 5 January 2013 04:15 (eleven years ago) link
New album out May 7th apparently.
― Gukbe, Tuesday, 22 January 2013 23:22 (eleven years ago) link
http://pitchfork.com/news/49408-vampire-weekend-reveal-album-title-via-mysterious-new-york-times-classified-ad/
― Gukbe, Monday, 4 February 2013 15:30 (eleven years ago) link
I can't wait for their Vampires Tour where they play vampirically while dressed as vampires, who vamp.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 4 February 2013 15:32 (eleven years ago) link
new thread?
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 4 February 2013 15:35 (eleven years ago) link
10 Ya Hey
― Mark G, Monday, 4 February 2013 15:44 (eleven years ago) link
Ho
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 4 February 2013 15:46 (eleven years ago) link
Lets go
― Mark G, Monday, 4 February 2013 19:17 (eleven years ago) link
you know, I really love this band. Those two records and the first especially are just astonishing pop collections. Their sound is so spare and carefully refined, and the melodies are outrageous. the whole affected prep thing is whatever. I really love this band and through the course of typing this have convinced myself I must have all three on vinyl ASAP. hope this one holds up
― you are my capitalism (spazzmatazz), Monday, 4 February 2013 19:22 (eleven years ago) link
I'm hoping for a Contra 2 there. Really loved Contra.
― Van Horn Street, Monday, 4 February 2013 19:50 (eleven years ago) link
Listening to Contra yesterday for the first time since god knows when was like having drinks with a great bro you haven't seen in months and you have all afternoon
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 4 February 2013 19:54 (eleven years ago) link
The new album is FIRE
― Raymond Cummings, Monday, 11 March 2013 11:56 (eleven years ago) link
So many religious allusions in play
― Raymond Cummings, Monday, 11 March 2013 11:57 (eleven years ago) link
Ok done writing my review, this goes on my shortlist for 2013
― Raymond Cummings, Friday, 15 March 2013 05:16 (eleven years ago) link
yessssss
― yellow jacket (spazzmatazz), Friday, 15 March 2013 06:15 (eleven years ago) link
there is a dedicated thread for this album, which it deserves: Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
― 2010 and 2012 World Champions San Francisco Giants (Bee OK), Friday, 15 March 2013 06:28 (eleven years ago) link
― Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Saturday, January 26, 2008 11:01 PM (eleven years ago)
I saw them open for AC at that same webster hall show . I'll be seeing Vampire Weekend headline MSG later this year . I don't even know the last time i wanted to listen to AC. crazy!
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 21:09 (four years ago) link