Vampire Weekend, or Why Water is No Garlic Substitute.
December 1, 2008 by william alberque 
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As you may know Vampire Weekend is playing 2 sold out shows at 930 club tonight and tomorrow. If you are anything like what we expect you to be (vaguely elitist about your music and jaded down to your “I only get my albums from the pre-release section of emusic” funny bone then you’ve been in the throes of Vampire Weekend backlash for months now. Oh well. It’s OK. Predictable. But OK. In fact, we’ve been wallowing in it ourselves a little, so much so that a few month a go I didn’t even run this piece by William because I felt it unnecessary. But the time has come now, so read, enjoy and remember why you were excited to hear them first a year a go?-Svetlana
ALL live photos: Joel Didriksen
I really hope it’s the moment that Vampire Weekend break through to superstar status. With two UK singles on XL Recordings, and an album being pushed to high heaven, they should. The first of the new
singles is the fabulous A-Punk (bizarrely backed with a “rehearsal version” of Oxford Comma that sounds as though it were recorded in a toilet in an airplane hanger). The second, released in May, is the
best song about punctuation ever, Oxford Comma, backed with Walcott (Insane Mix) – incidentally, their first remix and the closest they’ve come to a new song since, well, since their cover of Exit Music (for a
Film) (or the “clear radio edit” version of “Oxford Comma” – what, no fuck?). Still, great stuff. Still, A-Punk only scraped the UK charts, hitting #58, and Oxford Comma looks like it *just* cracked the top 40 at #38. What’s up with that?
Regardless, with any justice in the world, the onslaught will begin very, very soon. They’ve taken DC with a storming, massively over-sold set at the Rock’n'Roll Hotel, and two weeks back, they played an incredible set in a bible-epic-scale deluge at Central Park’s prestigious “Music on the Green?” series. Maybe this will help put them over the taste-makers’ edge and into the public consciousness? Lord knows they deserve it.
Fritz was the first person I knew to play their songs at his and Kathryn’s legendary Ipod Jukebox night at Café St. Ex. That was early 2007, and they were playing their self-produced CD single, with Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, A-Punk and Oxford Comma. The later two were re-released on ultra-limited (and ’spensive) yellow vinyl by the lovely folks at Free News Projects. I glommed on board when I bought the Mansard Roof 7″ (backed with the superb Ladies of Cambridge – previously known on demos as Boston) and heard the strangest but most wonderful song I’d ever heard about the Argentine Navy’s reaction to the Falkland War. Or something. I quickly downloaded the then-demo album (which is identical to the final release six months later) and fell madly, truly deeply in love. Of course, the subsequent hype bugged me – and the fact that I’d missed them at the Red and the Black – but hey, love is love and the heart goes where it will.
I was, however, lucky enough to be there a couple weeks back in Central Park, New York City, and, well, I’ve honestly never seen rain like it. A two-hour-straight downpour like having the entire ocean
dumped on your head, yet they played their songs just as perfectly as if it were a sunny day by the Providence sea shore. Instead of trash bags, I felt as though I were wearing a tennis sweater and boat shoes.
Fantastic stuff, and truly, deeply legendary when the string section came on for One (Blake’s Got a New Face) and promptly fled mid-song when the wind turned the rain onto the stage.
VW soldiered on, and
those who stayed were rewarded with a crowd less than a third of the initial mass that pressed into the venue earlier in the then-scorching day. Host/cheerleader Andrew W.K. was fairly annoying, and joined
them in a wholly unnecessary cover of “Don’t Come Around Here No More” by Tom Petty (thanks to ifitsgood.files.wordpress.com for astonishingly having a recording of that). Without the video of Alice being eaten, that song is just dreadful. Oh, and there were openers, who I sat through, glumly. Two big thumbs down to Kid Sister who sounded like a charmless, tuneless version of Finger Bang City.
Maybe it was the rain. Nah, I loved VW. It wasn’t the rain.
discography:
Vampire Weekend – Oxford Comma (Clean Version) – CD single XL
Vampire Weekend – Walcott (Insane Mix)
Vampire Weekend – A-Punk – A-Punk CD single/7″ pack XL
Vampire Weekend – Oxford Comma (Rehearsal Version)
Vampire Weekend – Exit Music (for a Film) – Download Radiohead tribute album
Vampire Weekend – Mansard Roof – 7″ XL
Vampire Weekend – Ladies of Cambridge
Vampire Weekend – A-Punk – 7″ Free News Project
Vampire Weekend – Oxford Comma
Vampire Weekend – Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa – Self-produced CD Single
Vampire Weekend – A-Punk
Vampire Weekend – Oxford Comma
more Vampire weekend BYT Coverage:
+live show @ rnr review
+Record Review
+Judging the cover by its cover
+What to do if you don’t have tickets
Be 100% suspicious of any band that appears to spend more time and effort on clothing than they do on buying better equipment and developing a good sense of rhythm.
December 1, 2008 at 1:50 pmpoint taken, but I will say that I saw them when they played RNR hotel last and they were pretty rad live. Everything was on point.
December 1, 2008 at 1:53 pmthey were on letterman (or conan?) and i thought they sounded great.
December 1, 2008 at 2:20 pmSaw them at rock and roll hotel also and thought they were great, but saw them again 6 months later at austin city limits in front of a 15,000+ crowd on a huge stage and they were even better. They just did everything right, you could see the progression they had made, and they put on a really good show. Would think the 9:30 show would be excellent.
December 1, 2008 at 2:46 pmI’ve found it incredibly hard to get excited for this show, I killed that record when it came out and haven’t gave it a spin in months. But I’ll be there tomorrow. Tonight I’m goin to Monday Night Rawwwww!
December 1, 2008 at 2:53 pmThey could be spending more time and effort on smearing peanut butter into their hair, just so long as they continue to produce such exquisite songs. I just listened to “Arrows” (only on the Japanese version of the debut record) and the aforementioned “Ottoman,” and they’re also stellar. Seriously, why does their style of dress matter?
December 1, 2008 at 3:06 pmRe: William
Here is my beef. For a band that claims African sounds such as juju and afrobeat, their rhythm section is incredibly stiff. Their drummer sounds hesitant where he should be confident. He’s certainly no Tony Allen.
Furthermore, the bass guitar tones and drum sounds on their debut album are sorely lacking in dynamic. The bass does not throb, the snare drum often sounds like a dull thud. In fact, the only thing I really like about this band’s sound is Ezra Koenig’s guitar tones.
Considering the fact that these lads recorded for an indie label with a decent amount of $, it’s a real wonder that this album sounds so blah. Who produced this and why haven’t they been strangled?
Their style of dress is fine wahtever. But is it so hard to take some of those tour earnings and buy a decent Fender Jazzbass with a full scale neck and good pickups? You know, somethin’ with some BODY.
December 1, 2008 at 3:34 pmThey’re one of the only shows I’ve ever walked out on.
December 1, 2008 at 3:36 pmPatrick! Wait - I think I know. They produced the album themselves before they got signed anywhere - I think just Rostam produced it. Just listen to his original version of Campus:
http://www.myspace.com/rostambatmanglij
Or his own remix of Walcott. Rhythm doesn’t seem to be his thing.
donkey kong: really? Why? Had you heard the album, but they didn’t live up to it? I thought they were great, and I’m not even going tomorrow. Tindersticks in Munich.
December 1, 2008 at 4:03 pmi have noticed that patrick hates on almost any band that has recently gotten recognition. truth.com
December 1, 2008 at 4:07 pmPatrick - why the hate for short-scale basses? I’ve had a Pedulla MVP4 Signature (a $1500 active bartolini pain in the ass) and a fretless Fender Jazz, but I ditched them both for my heavenly Univox Hi-Flier (I love it so much that I bought the guitar version also). Stanley Clarke, one of the great bassists, plays primarily on short-scales.
Listen to it here (mastered version coming soon): http://www.myspace.com/lacoterie
December 1, 2008 at 5:07 pmShort-scale basses, when used approprirately, can sound amazing. E.g. the first two Talking Heads albums and the live version of “What We All Want” by Gang of Four.
December 1, 2008 at 5:23 pmLove the Gang of Four song - what live version>>??!!!
December 1, 2008 at 5:29 pmWho cares, ed, what you have noticed.
Leave off. Dissolve.
Your effort useless. Quite hopeless.
Everyone agrees. This is in vain.
You’re a nuisance. On P street you belong.
Chorus:
C’est tout. C’est tout. Oui Oui Oui oui.
On P street you belong.
C’est tout. C’est tout. Oui Oui Oui oui.
On P street he belongs,
une mal garson eddie
(Repeat ad infinitum)
This is a pop song I just composed. It’s called ‘eddie the nuisance’.
December 1, 2008 at 5:40 pmi think they dress exactly how i would expect any ivy-leaguer to dress, very well.
both of these shows sold out in like a day and so, i’m not going, sad (but i am going to see their lovechild ra ra riot on sundayfunday)
December 1, 2008 at 5:55 pmWilliam:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ac1n_gang-of-four-what-we-all-want_music
If you go to about 40 seconds, you’ll notice Dave Allen’s not using either a fiesta red mustang OR musicmaster bass.
December 1, 2008 at 6:31 pm
“Ottoman” off the Nick and Norah soundtrack?
December 1, 2008 at 1:40 pm