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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Who would have thought it? Nobody, that's who. The last time African music enjoyed any meaningful dalliance with the Western mainstream it was under Paul Simon's patronage with his peerless 1986 album Graceland. That's if you don't count Damon Albarn's extra curricular indulgences (which you don't). The last place we expected it to turn up again was from four New York kids who otherwise might have been found fiddling with their fringes in dorm rooms waiting for the Albert Hammond Jr. tour to hit town. Even by the obscure standards US indie has set itself over the last few years (see TV on the Radio and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) Vampire Weekend offer up a witch's brew of audacity. That alone would be sufficient to garner infamy and a rep for experimentation, but they also hang from this rebellion of form a stream of alt-tunefulness so efficient and unabashed it would make The Strokes' first album blush. Thus, the piping reggae organ and sun-kissed swagger of "Oxford Comma" is given a heartbeat by tight lo-fi garage drums and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" lilts along with cheerful tribal rhythms and crisp African guitar, bound by ascending psychedelic vocals. And that's not to mention the mad strings that make listening to "M79" like watching Ski Sunday on hallucinogens. Their advanced rhythmical awareness even makes more standard indie rampages "I Stand Corrected" and "Walcott" less standard. Which is about the length of it; Vampire Weekend, making the standard much less standard. --James Berry
Review
Vampire Weekend are the latest band to unexpectedly defy genre and geographic expectations. Since the turn of the millennium, New York groups have reworked proto-punk sounds popularised by The Velvet Underground (The Strokes, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Holy Hail), or rubbery punk-funk (The Rapture, !!!, Radio 4, LCD Soundsystem). But on this remarkable debut the latest NYC hopefuls clearly draw from a far deeper well of influences.
The most overt feature of the VW sound is the refreshing adoption of Afrobeat percussion. This alone differentiates the quartet from their peers, but when added to a multitude of nautical references and other, often ambiguous, lyrics about delightfully esoteric subjects, the results are constantly rewarding.
What other act would write about punctuation (Oxford Comma), loft conversions (Mansard Roof), the link between rich US college fashions and Victorian British Imperialism (Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa and possibly others)? Only a band with the balls to make a 2008 version of Paul Simon's Graceland, crossed with moments of art-disco cool that namechecks Peter Gabriel, Louis Vuitton, at least two types of English tea and Manhattan bus routes. And that's not counting M79 and The Kids Don't Stand A Chance, whose harpsichords and string sections would be more at home in the court of Louis XIV than a 'rock' album.
Some listeners may be utterly baffled by a record including lines like Walcott's "The lobster's claw is sharp as knives/ evil feasts on human lives" and Mansard Roof's "The Argentines collapse in defeat/ the admiralty surveys the remnants of the fleet". Some may also feel that the material sails too far into jaunty waters on occasion. But minor quibbles aside, clearly this quartet isn't interested in tired posturing or being cool for the sake of it. What bursts from the speakers is compellingly warm and joyful. Vampire Weekend have crafted an educated, endlessly imaginative and different piece of work that's arguably the first truly great album of the year. And you won't even need to wear a crucifix or garlic clove to hear it. --Lou Thomas
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
You'll like it!,
By Peej "Peej" (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Vampire Weekend (Audio CD)
One of the odd things about trying to describe New York's Vampire Weekend, isn't who has influenced them the most, but the sheer diversity of the various influences. The African rhythms on their 2008 debut album smack of Zimbabwe's Bhundu Boys or The Four Brothers; while lead vocalist Ezra Koenig's delivery reminds of Sting from The Police's 'Regatta de Blanc' period. However, there's a touch of Broadway show tunes in there, some baroque quartet and even some Brandenburg Concerto Bach. Whatever the influences, the Noo Yawk proto-punk style has been completely re-imagined with ambiguous lyrics about delightfully esoteric subjects. Most of the references are so obscure you are left scratching your head wondering what it could all mean, so it's best to just let the whole wash over you and enjoy the quirky pop sensibilities and addictive tunes.
Seriously, there's nothing not to like here!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quality pop,
By
This review is from: Vampire Weekend (Audio CD)
I must be getting old because I bought this after reading a review in the Grauniad!!! But no regrets here- it's fun, quirky pop that put me in a spring mood, probably because of the reggae/Afro rhythms that permeate the tracks. The most obvious comparison that sprang to mind for me was actually with the Beatles because, like a Beatles album, the tracks are all a bit original and eccentric.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Short, snappy, witty, happy,
By
This review is from: Vampire Weekend (Audio CD)
I caught onto Vampire Weekend a little late, thanks to an Amazon reccomendation. Very glad I got there in the end! This is a very, very good CD that makes it into the 5 star rating thanks to the strength of the best of the songs, rather than the entire body of work which would Vampire Weekendstill have got it a 4. First couple of plays I wasted time playing 'spot the influence'. That was untimately futile as, other than the obvious Paul Simon Graceland influence on a couple of tracks, these songs are very good in their own right. What does the inspiration matter as long as the songs are INSPIRED? I read a press review comparing them to Madness which I consider to be VERY misleading. The Mads are a kind of musical comedy act, while these guys have a sense of humour but are seriously good. Favourite tracks are 'Oxford Comma', 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa', 'One' (Blake's got a new face)and 'Walcott'.
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