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$9.99 CD
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VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Vampire Weekend
(XL)
 "Mansard Roof"
"M79"
It's a rare situation when writing about a band's first album that it would feel like everything has been said already, but Vampire Weekend, and the excitement that is surrounding their XL Recordings debut, brings just such a situation. Since this NYC pop group first self-released a few tracks right here on Other Music Digital last summer, the band has been the focus of so much talk online and in mainstream music publications. It's hard to imagine that ANYBODY is not familiar with their sound, their look and their story; in that period, they've gone from playing to 30 friends at neighborhood bars and college parties to headlining thousand-seat venues, scoring national TV appearances and magazine covers around the world, and perhaps this is just the beginning.
So you think you know Vampire Weekend? Well, quite honestly, if you've been paying attention these past few months, you probably do know the band, and there are few surprises on their debut album, save perhaps the best surprise, that it is really a pretty great record, and that Vampire Weekend are a pretty great band to boot. If you are a longtime fan (meaning, say, over six months), you probably already own almost all of these tracks (not the exclusive bonus version of "Bryn" recorded live at Other Music though, free with album download from our site!), as nearly all the songs appeared on the ten-track CD-R they used to sell at shows. The recordings on that "demo" album, with a similar track listing and artwork, in fact make up the majority of the XL debut. These are the same recordings, with a few small changes and a stellar mastering job that gives these wispy songs a heft and clarity that was missing on the raw original version. And between the more widely available self-released three-song EP and the Mansard Roof XL EP, you have already heard a third of the album's tracks. But what do you want from these guys? Until last summer they were fulltime Columbia students, and I can't imagine that even in their wildest dreams were they prepared for the scrutiny their set list has come under!
Which, for those of you who have been living under the rocks, brings us to the actual sound of the band. Vampire Weekend, love them or loath them, are unabashedly true to their roots. Remember before "alternative", when they used to say "college rock"? Vampire Weekend are committed college boys (although "rock" is not a term that applies to their sound), dressing from the Preppy Handbook and singing sharp, literate pop songs about crushes, classes, summers on Cape Cod and punctuation, but with an intelligence and wit that gives these simple cloistered subjects depth and allure. And their sound as well, built on the backs of literate "underground" bands like Talking Heads and Orange Juice, and paying tribute to somewhat stale mainstream artists like Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel, comes off as fresh and original due to its clear-eyed honesty as well as its hooky hit-making. There is no manufactured snarl to the group's sound; the guitars are thin and chiming, drawing on African high-life melodies more than indie bombast. The keyboards can sound cheesy and lightweight, but co-songwriter/producer/keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij's playing has a depth and subtlety that allows the group to incorporate global rhythms and subtle shifts of time and melody that give these songs their infectious joy, and the thin sound of the instruments is integral to the intriguing sound of the band. And front man Ezra Koenig's singing, smart but not smarmy, expressive but not expansive, is at the center of these pop nuggets. The end result (or just the beginning, this IS a debut album after all) is simply infectious. Vampire Weekend have delivered the goods with a catchy, joyful record that may not change the direction of modern music, but seems destined to make a serious splash and make a stand for smart, global pop music, and penny loafers too. [JM] |
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Toumani Diabate
