Vampire Weekend; Arctic Monkeys of 2008?

lol parochialism

No, that's not NYC parochialism -- it's the split between loft party and sunny campus, a vibe I think potential purchasers will intuit pretty much across the country.

that's still parochial in a whole bunch of ways tho -- country and class above all.

uh and age obviously.

it's the split between loft party and sunny campus

Great description. I saw the Samples and Widespread Panic on that "sunny campus"!

Don't get "country" and disagree about age (as if soft spots for "sunny campus" music vanish upon graduation), but mostly I'm just ... are we supposed to be shocked and appalled here by indie releases appealing to market fragments that are not all that different from one another in the big picture???

(Beyond which I feel like that split is actually a huge one right now, indie-wise, and I've been bumping into it while writing for years now -- take indie as an overall market, and there's a huge tension/split shaping up between polite collegiate pop and basement noise/freaks/etc. Part of what first impressed me about VW is that they made the polite-collegiate camp not seem like a lost cause for a second; they're both totally committed to that side and yet somehow not boring or predictable about it. TO ME, obviously.)

oh hai i missed some posts

the drumming live is v different from that on the record

-- gabbneb, Wednesday, January 30, 2008 11:49 AM (Wednesday, January 30, 2008 11:49 AM) Bookmark Link

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better?

-- Jordan, Wednesday, January 30, 2008 11:49 AM (Wednesday, January 30, 2008 11:49 AM) Bookmark Link

harder faster stronger

does anyone else think theyre purposely needling w/all the waspy signifiers - i just watched a video of them riding around in a sailboat!

noooo, you don't say. how many of them are actually wasps again? rite. i have a t-shirt w/ a picture of a sailboat on it. i wear it 'ironically'.

They were connected to some of the richest and most powerful students and in the most exclusive clubs at Columbia--

-- burt_stanton, Wednesday, January 30, 2008 12:15 PM (Wednesday, January 30, 2008 12:15 PM) Bookmark Link

haha, burt did you go to columbia? they played a party at the club for the mostly-ignored boarding school kids, which they seem to have regarded from a mildly ironic distance, and the artsy kids' co-ed frat.

The Indestructible Beat of Soweto>>>>>>>Black Sea>>>>>>>Congotronics>>>>>>>>>The Video For "You Can Call Me Al">>>>>>>>>>Macha>>>>>>>>>"Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard" Scene from The Royal Tennenbaums>>>>>>>>>>>Style Council's Clothes>>>>>>>>>>>>>A Certain Ratio>>>>>>>>>>>>>Vampire Weekend

Congrats, you're a Rockist

if liking XTC more than vampire weekend is wrong, i don't wanna be right

and i am a rockist pretty much, at least i think i am. i like to rock out.

Yeah but if being better than XTC were required for bands like this to be worth talking about, a whole lot of the internet would have to be devoted to endless discussion and daily re-reviews of Drums & Wires

Wait, did I already do my thing on here? I have a thing! I wait for people to call VW "white guys with guitars" or use the acronym WASP and then I go "STOP CHANGING PEOPLE'S ETHNICITY / PROBABLE RELIGION TO SUIT YOUR ZINGS"

And then conversely there are plenty of acts who'd have been considered jam bands by 90s standards that aren't now -- say, Gogol Bordello.

hi dere, my other fave band of late. actual jam bands are pretty much for a specialist audience these days, while the larger audience and aesthetic has diffused into a pretty wide variety of acts/genres - jam is what you put it on/where you find it.

I have been waiting for him to be otm so I can drop "Fresh From Nabisco"

Judging by the names, only one of them has any being-a-WASP potential

Where do my poor underloved Brazilian Girls fit in?

yeah i dunno u guyses are so deep in2da game now i can't really hang w/r/t vampire weekend analysis

on the real tip: i don't even hate it, but the dude's voice reminds me of the decemberists dudes voice, which is kind of a seinfeld dealbreaker kinda deal for me....vocal "man hands" or "close talker" if you will

(also rockist or not, my more than/less than was right as rain)

Judging by the names, only one of them has any being-a-WASP potential

yeah, and he arguably has the least WASPy aesthetic in the band

ok so weve reached the point of the thread where people are just unloading the quips theyve been saving regardless of context

that's no quip, that's my wife

ugh this band is just boring white guys with guitars from new york

only more annoying because they try to be different in this really lame way that isn't convincing

u guys forgot to say "wasp"

i listened to the stuff on the myspace and it didn't hold my interest, though i did like the harmonium or whatever it was on one of the tracks. my prediction is that this album will be insanely popular and everyone will play it at their hippie/hipster college parties and love it so much, and then they'll put out another album next year and no one will like it as much and by the end of 2009 no one will care much anymore. a.k.a the clap your hands say yeah story.

http://redeyesurfer.com/TheWasp1.jpg

i'm pretty sure that dude's pointing at you guys

lol - American class signifiers. I actually think it's apt to discuss class & privilege in connection with this band, not necessarily because of where they hail from, but because they so openly drop the signifiers in their lyrics. In contrast, say, with the critics of Lily Allen who seem to think that it's particularly damning to point out her privileged upbringing - when that's mostly irrelevant to her music - in the case of Vampire Weekend, I do think the band kind of invites that analysis.

I'm sorta with Emily. I've only heard the myspace tracks, which are great, v. catchy and pleasant, fascinating from a spot-the-influences standpoint, so I can see why the band might be huge. But the level of excited, detailed and (mostly) intelligent discussion here is throwing me. What's the big deal? Why this band, this record? Is it just the African music angle? Not a slam, I'm genuinely curious...

o. nate going a long way towards answering my question

I actually think it's apt to discuss class & privilege in connection with this band, not necessarily because of where they hail from, but because they so openly drop the signifiers in their lyrics

they drop the overt-upper-crust signifiers by turns ironically and critically. to the extent there are other signifiers, like one of the reviews said, they're not gonna pretend to be poorer or dumber than they are. but i don't see what makes these kids more privileged than yr average suburban punk band, other than that they could actually get into one of the best schools in the country.

guyz, having a driver's license is a privilege and NOT a right

wait is he driving the bus or riding on it ?!

OMG ! both are blue collar signifiers !!

bus riders/drivers are SO POOR !

i often sat on the backseat of the 79 myself. now that i'm all grown and shit, i tend to take the second-to-last seat or martyr myself in the bendy seats.

the m79 has a real blue collar vibe, it is true

You know, I do have to hand it to these guys for making a record that--even if you don't like it--is intriguing to dissect and think about. I heard CYHSY and it was like watching a toilet flush.

What I want to know is how the sudden popularity of Vampire Weekend affects the other college-age, New England-affiliated indie-pop band featuring a South Asian guy (or actually, two) and a lead singer named Ezra?

they're Tufts students; they'll get used to it

;-)

But the level of excited, detailed and (mostly) intelligent discussion here is throwing me.

i think you need to re-read the thread

let me sum it up:

burt_stanton: "im bored"
nabisco: "youre boring"
gabbneb: "something"
burt_stanton: "liars are better than vampire weekend"

aka cultural criticism

chaki: "i'm chaki, i like ska"

http://www.undefinedstudios.com/images/portfolio_imgs/image/Oxy_1.jpg

chaki: "i'm chaki, i like ska"

chaki used to post like that. it was charming.

Yeah, okay, there's a hell of a lot of that. Thread about P-fork upped indie band = guaranteed bickering. But there's also a lot of thoughtful analysis of sounds & sources, class & cultural signifiers, lyrics, etc. And it's been going strong for several days now. Impressive, but baffling.

Is this where I say Whiney OTM? I mean, it's a game of what seem like really small differences, but these guys sound and present themselves and operate very differently from the average indie band. Just in ways that seem natural and subtle enough that they ask for picking-apart.

I mean, I know of several people who Just Aren't Feeling It who saw them when they were first playing live shows, and one of these people just thought "oh, it's some new British pop/rock band" and left, so that seems to happen, too -- but for me, having a band walk onstage, or first grabbing an mp3 off a blog, and having "Mansard Roof" start is like ... honestly not what I would expect to hear from a band in this context, or in these circles.

but these guys sound and present themselves and operate very differently from the average indie band.

I dunno that I buy this. It sounds so sweeping. While sounding in many ways exactly like a lot of other current indie rock, the use of African & ska rhythms & guitar sounds does give VW a unique edge. Plus they reach back to wide-eyed, open-eared 80s indie stuff you don't hear much trace of these days: They Might Be Giants, Violent Femmes, Camper Van Beethoven, etc. That's great, but it doesn't quite set my gears to spinning.

Still, I could see how all the unapologetic posh signifiers might arouse interest, especially from folks used to parsing English pop.

I mean, I know of several people who Just Aren't Feeling It who saw them when they were first playing live shows, and one of these people just thought "oh, it's some new British pop/rock band" and left

the sad thing is britain probably could produce this kind of effete bullshit these days sans guilt, but only relatively recently. to compare them to morrissey (not that i'm a fan but...) is mental.

Don't get "country" and disagree about age (as if soft spots for "sunny campus" music vanish upon graduation), but mostly I'm just ... are we supposed to be shocked and appalled here by indie releases appealing to market fragments that are not all that different from one another in the big picture???

the campus thing is a factor of the country thing: seems to be very american. obviously the uk has campus universities too, but i would think not in the same way. the ones i visited, people were desperate not to be there. i think one should be appalled by indie releases, tbqh though.

Last Nab Post: That, I get. Boils down to the upbeat Afro-pop and ska elements. Unexpected & fresh-sounding. But hardly mind-blowing.

chaki: "i'm chaki, i like ska"

-- Mr. Que, Thursday, January 31, 2008 2:20 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

seriously get off my nuts. your obsession with me is bordering on disturbing at this point. the best observation i made in this thread was the urban outfitters thing.

gabbneb, your enthusiasm for this band is downright cute. xoxoxo