Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Inertia / XL


There are plenty of bands that choose a classic album as a reference point when they undergo the process of recording an album. However, Vampire Weekend's choice to draw from the brilliance of Paul Simon's 'Graceland' is such a great idea, it left me wondering why nobody had thought of doing it before? The combination of afro-pop sounds merged with a preppy version of indie rock cool is such a winner. Vampire Weekend hail from New York and like the Big Apple's main musical export of recent years (The Strokes), a steadily building wave of hype - especially online - has been growing about their remarkably fresh and exciting sound.

The single A-Punk hits like a modern ska classic, but despite it's simple pop appeal it is actually one of the weaker songs on this outstanding album. Ezra Koenig's vocals begin with an effortless sense of cool in Oxford Comma then, as the pace picks up, the hooks kick in. However, the catchiest of all their infectious melodies is M79; beginning with quirky keyboards and strings, it is the way that Vampire Weekend flip between building up their songs and stripping them back before returning with the same captivating melodic hook that catapults this song to the status of genius. The 'Graceland' influence is abundantly apparent in the clean guitar and percussion sounds of Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa as Koenig throws around pop culture name checks like its going out of fashion. Koenig's lyrics are delightfully random - there are no straightforward stories told here, but a strange selection of verbose phrases, everyday observations and free association.

The repeated falsetto of One (Blake's Got A New Face) was initially irksome but in time the sheer joy of listening to Vampire Weekend leads even this song to grow on the listener. Although most of this album is upbeat and fun filled; Vampire Weekend prove they can manage more solemn moments like the bass driven I Stand Corrected. By the time Vampire Weekend race through the Chamber music moments of Walcott it almost sounds like they could be bragging about how effortlessly they can draw in influences from all kinds of areas and channel it into the freshest sound coming out of indie music in ages. Only time will tell if Vampire Weekend will last the distance, but the pop these guys produce is so vividly coloured it's like an audio LSD trip.

Scott Berry