Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Score:81
Reviewer: Justin Pearsall
Label: XL (USA), Remote Control (Australia)
Reviewed: Jan 21st '08, Released:2009
Vampire Weekend are an easy band to hate. For those of you who’ve only heard of the internet in the last six months, they’re the new ‘it’ band, and much like predecessors Artic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand and The Strokes, they’ve been eliciting mixed opinions. The difference? The New York City four-piece are facing the hype, over-hype, has-been cycle without having yet released their debut album.
Vampire Weekend make the kind of music that will have all the indie snobs out there sharpening those sardonic one-liners: it’s ultra-catchy, slickly produced and fashionable. But for those with less prejudicial hearing, the buzz behind this band is real and deserved. The flair with which they employ their sound suggests a real affinity with the rhythmic foundations of African music and a seamless synergy with the melodic focus of the West. And while some will call it imitative, it’s certainly not derivative to anything current, which is a good, and rare, thing.
All Calypso instrumentation, wired rhythms and the unmistakable, hook-heavy vocals of Ezra Koenig, Vampire Weekend channel their influences but come out with a sound that is their own. The album is full of great songs, infectious melodies and riffs that haunt your head, remove it from the hype and it stands up.
Even for those rattled by the exposure, Vampire Weekend are a band worthy of your attention. They’re credible enough to deter the criticisms of pure superficiality and innovative enough to justify the hype. And while another positive review will only build the puff saturating this band, it is only the foolhardy (or the blinded snob) who will overlook the charms of Vampire Weekend. The real test for the band is where they take their sound next? It’s an enticing proposition and one worthy of some real publicity.
