Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
So, after forming in New York after attending Columbia University and calling your style of music “Upper West Side Soweto” might not make you the coolest band on the planet, none of that matters when you listen to the self titled album. Though some potential fans may be put off by lyrical references to obscure punctuation (Oxford Comma) or 17th century French architecture (Mansard Roof)
The overall tone of the album is very upbeat with the African influences coming through throughout the entire record, though some debate has ensued over the exact form of this influence. The band themselves have hinted at Congolese soukous, others have suggested Ghanaian highlife or Nigerian juju, whilst Alexis Petridis suggested Zimbabwe’s Bhudo Boys. The exact source of that influence here is irrelevant, as unlike Paul Simon’s Graceland, indigenous musicians are not used, and besides it doesn’t really matter. What matters is the music, the album opens with Mansard Roof, a jumpy song that seems to skip along with a surprising amount of warmth. Next is Oxford Comma, a more traditional song in that it has less of an African influence than much of the album and is built a bouncing organ that gives way to a lovely chorus. After this the African influences are immediately noticeable again on A-Punk and especially Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. This actually sounds most like anything from Paul Simon’s Graceland which is no bad thing and was named in Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Songs of the Year, 2007.
M79 is where the classical influences start to break through, opening with a harpsichord, luscious orchestration kicks in only to give way to as skipping African style guitar. This interchange of style happens throughout the song and is a particular highlight. Followed by Campus, one of the most brooding song here along with I Stand Corrected with almost has hints of Joshua Tree era U2 if you listen hard enough. While the album tails off slightly in the middle section it finishes well with Walcott and The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance. The former is a perfect blend of their African and classical influences and tells the story of the main character from the film project the band named themselves after. The album closes with The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance and its opening bass line sounding something akin to early Police. As the song progresses the music sounds almost psychedelic in places and luscious string arrangements seem to float in and out and the bass line keeps on pounding along.
While their may be a lot going on here, this is a very good album that deserves credit and though it may take several plays to fully get into you’ll discover it was worth the effort when you do.
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
2008 XL Recordings Ltd
Producer: Rostam Batmanglij
Players:
Ezra Koenig - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Hand Drum
Rostam Batmanglij - Organ, Chamberlin, Piano, Harpsichord, Guitar, Vocal Harmonies, Drum & Synth Programming, Shaker
Chris Baio - Bass
Christopher Tomson - Drums, Guitar
Tracklisting:
Mansard Roof
Oxford Comma
A-Punk
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
M79
Campus
Bryn
One (Blake’s Got A New Face)
I Stand Corrected
Walcott
The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance