{"id":41148,"date":"2008-10-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/vampire-weekend\/"},"modified":"2008-10-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-09T00:00:00","slug":"vampire-weekend","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/vampire-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Vampire Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember thinking Vampire Weekend was an idiotic band name. After listening to their 34-minute self-titled debut, I realized not many other titles could fit what they are: a young, funny band of college graduates who pretend like they don\u2019t care. (\u201cVampire Weekend\u201d specifically refers to an amateur film directed by lead singer\/guitarist Ezra Koenig.) <\/p>\n

But the four members — along with an additional six musicians lending violins and hand drums among other goodies — are also damn fine at playing their instruments, which was the old line about The Police. And even though many critics focus on Vampire Weekend\u2019s allegiance to Afro-Pop, post-punk is another important ingredient of the band\u2019s sound. <\/p>\n

Still, if you listen to \u201cDiamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes\u201d from Paul Simon\u2019s Graceland<\/i><\/st1:place>, you will hear similar things on much of this album — clean guitar riffs, bumpy bass, and that <\/i>percussion. On the other hand, Vampire Weekend\u2019s sound is not as overproduced as Simon\u2019s — there\u2019s a lot more space. Among other places, Vampire Weekend <\/i>was recorded in a barn and bassist Chris Baio\u2019s mom\u2019s house. Koenig is an appropriately vibrant leader, but Rostam Batmanglij gives the band its own Jay Bennett (former multi-instrumentalist of Wilco).<\/p>\n

\u201cMansard Roof,\u201d the lead track, is a joyful way to start an album with its driving beat and ringing guitar. Two quick minutes later, you might get even more enthusiastic about \u201cOxford Comma\u201d (which I\u2019ll come back to) before hitting \u201cA-Punk,\u201d which sounds eerily like the Ramones a couple of times, and \u201cCape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,\u201d a very Afro-Pop track. <\/p>\n

The fifth song, \u201cM79,\u201d is a combination of Afro-Pop, classical, and post-punk. The first two make up the general sound of the track, while the latter is most evident when Koenig mimics early Police as he sings \u201cSo go I know you would not stay\u201d and blankets you with the recollection that, yes, Sting didn\u2019t always sing like an adult contemporary fiend. <\/p>\n

And the album continues to be fun. \u201cCampus\u201d is a simple and funny college tale that either involves a failed relationship or an affair with a professor. Whichever way, it\u2019s all about avoiding the person on campus: \u201cHow am I supposed to pretend \/ I never want to see you again.\u201d <\/p>\n

The most serious — and most post-punk — moment is definitely \u201cI Stand Corrected,\u201d which juxtaposes energy and emptiness. It\u2019s almost another take on the simple theme The Beatles explored with \u201cWe Can Work It Out\u201d and results in an effective break from the band\u2019s usual. <\/p>\n

If \u201cBryn\u201d is the track they should have thrown out, the aforementioned \u201cOxford Comma\u201d is the reason why you can forgive such a flaw. Its opening lyrics are the hook: \u201cWho gives a fuck about an Oxford<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> comma?\u201d Once you find out what an Oxford<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> comma is (the comma that comes before \u201cand\u201d in a series), those who aren\u2019t grammar specialists may concur, \u201cYeah, who does?\u201d Even though the remaining lyrics don\u2019t make as much sense, they\u2019re still fun. <\/p>\n

And that is what makes Vampire Weekend a great band. You don\u2019t have to understand what Koenig is saying or even be familiar with Afro-Pop. They deliver every song in a neat package of solid instrumentation, catchy vocals, and refreshing bliss. They already have the mark of a great pop group, and I would call their debut one of the best pop albums of the current decade. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":29555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[8282],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-41148","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-vampire-weekend","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41148"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41148"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}