Vampire Weekend

So the Indie Music scene is abuzz with the latest New York Blog Band “Vampire Weekends”, and, being the absolute indie whore that I am, I was beholden to pick up they’re self titled release (through a complex of legally questionable, but morally air tight method’s of course, after all, actually buying music isn’t cool anymore!). [Posters Note: I do not promote stealing music, shoplifting is a crime, but im not sure on how that whole downloading thing plays out....]

I gave it a few listens, and came up with the following opinion: It’s a decent, enjoyable album, without anything particularly amazing about it. They definitely have a sound that is at once unique and, at the same time, strangely reminiscent of quite a few things, calling back the sparseness of 70’s pop rock, oddly ethnic african drumming, and the near obligatory indie oddness in it’s singing (a sort of Jonothan Richman-esque drawl, with the occasional yodeling howl).

The entire album is relaxing in the extreme, even the quicker bits such as Campus. Not necessarily chill or lethargic, but the kind of thing that induces you to put a some what stoned smile on your face and go for a walk. Maybe have a picnic in the park. They make use of a diverse series of instruments, from tribal bongo’s to violin-esque strings, but do it all without losing the uncluttered and clean feeling that pervades the whole CD.

The basic gyst is this. Vampire Weekends is a pleasant and creative album that is worth a listen, but probably won’t be making it to your ‘best bands of all time’ list.

-Sigmund Amadeus Werndorf