Vampire Weekend; Arctic Monkeys of 2008?

As a band, they're less irritating than Arctic Monkeys, but their hype may become so unbearable that I want to break their kneecaps.

their CD-R is one of the 15 best records of the year.

yeah this lolindie nob i know's always going on about them. But he's young.

Okay thoughts on the album:

- It's really good, in ways I hadn't anticipated and maybe can't quite articulate yet.

- The reason they are really good is nothing to do with the 'ZOMG! They are mixing indie punk with African and Irish music!" Emperor's New Clothes nonsense present in all the hype. If anything, these moments are brief flourishes and nothing more. And once again it shows how low collective expectations of new guitar bands have become, that if one shows any evidence of knowing what to do with a rhythm section then it suddenly beocmes a huge selling point.

- The moments when there ARE African or Irish influences prominent in the music threaten to teeter over into atrocious Sting/Paul Simon territory but never actually do so. Possibly because the band understand the value of RESTRAINT.

- This sense of restraint is maybe why Nick Southall might have been right all along. Compared to most of the other overhyped rock records of the last few years, this one feels so... tidy! You listen to any haircut indie of the past through years, starting from The Killers and through Bloc Party, the Arctic Monkeys, The Klaxons and Los Fucking Campasinos and there's just sonic clutter everywhere. The Vampire Weekend album hardly puts anything anywhere that doesn't need to be there, and that feels refreshing and crisp - cf the bass and drums at the start of 'Campus'. Ironically this is exactly what I would have attacked The Strokes for in 2001.

- It's bubblegum pop grown up a few years, with exactly the same concerns dressed up differently, isn't it? "I see you walking across the campus..." is the sort of timeless girly chorus you'd expect to hear in any pop record of the last few decades. Production-wise, it sounds like that as well, and yet I don't even remotely hold that against it...

- "Blake's got a new face!" is a Pixies chorus.

I've been hearing this band hyped up since the beginning of 2007. "lisen to them now, they're ognna be then ext big thign!" basically on anything with words printed on it in NYC.

and, here we are. Kinda predictable.

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.

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

they're great! i had no idea until december or so.

I saw them and they sucked. There was one good part but it was really bland. Real thin sound especially juxtaposed with animal collective

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.

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.

I've come around on them bigtime, and no longer want to break their kneecaps regardless of how hyped they get.

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.

http://nw.mit.edu/codeigniter2x/core/nathanwilson/images/why/hater_tots.jpg

sample youtube comment: "english beat is kinda gay though"

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.

god forbid.

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.

Great point.

Nice street-teaming from "Craig sobeski" too upthread. KEEP IT UP GUYZ

Thanks, man.

SHIT IS DEEP

Stream the new album here: http://3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/

Fuck the hype. This album kicks ass.

got dragged along to see fucking darjeeling limited and realized that these guys are the same reprehensible bullshit in audio form

this

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?

Great point.

I loved Darjeeling Limited! Any other recommendations?

got dragged along to see fucking darjeeling limited and realized that these guys are the same reprehensible bullshit in audio form

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/06_01/beatlesDM3105_468x299.jpg

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.

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.

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".

britishes

i surprisingly like this. kind of a lot

oh they're total rushmore music. total wes anderson soundtrack. but im ok with that

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

ok, is it a youthful, quirky/not quirky andersonian innocence that causes people to enjoy them? nostalgia for one's college days?

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.

there's a pretty big element of escapism involved w/ their music that i like

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

"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.

lol "hueg"

yeah idk "boston" was just what i had it labeled as on their cd-r

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.

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.

fuck these motherfuckers

fucking fuckers are guarandamnteeing a Northern Exposure revival or some such shit

"oh, if only paul simon would YELP."

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.

<3 this album but room on fire is also a fave

I fought the inclination for months, but lost: "Giving Up the Gun" is my jam of the year.

y fight it

anyone heard their iTunes holiday EP? They cover Bruce's "I'm Goin' Down."

that "holiday oooh holiday the best time of the year" song in the TV commercials can suck my dick, thank god xmas is over

lmaotm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxzM7FaGLOk

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iPJHcX_dRs

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)

otm

otm

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

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

Yeah, they grow on you.

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.

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

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".

last chance for them to not become completely irrelevant

I actually think both their albums hold up really well. First is better than the second, but both are good.

Yeah I still go back to these quite a bit. Don't know how much more "relevant" you can get.

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.

Contra >>>>> first

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.

Contra is one of the best straight-up indie rock albums of the past few years.

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.

Contra is one of the best straight-up indie rock albums of the past few years.

OTM

i think contra > debut but both are great, catchy pop -- i'm excited + anticipating new album!

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...

yeah, both album are very good. looking forward to some new stuff by these guys.

New album out May 7th apparently.

http://pitchfork.com/news/49408-vampire-weekend-reveal-album-title-via-mysterious-new-york-times-classified-ad/

I can't wait for their Vampires Tour where they play vampirically while dressed as vampires, who vamp.

new thread?

10 Ya Hey

Ho

Lets go

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

I'm hoping for a Contra 2 there. Really loved Contra.

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 new album is FIRE

So many religious allusions in play

Ok done writing my review, this goes on my shortlist for 2013

yessssss

there is a dedicated thread for this album, which it deserves: Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

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, 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!