Vampire Weekend Perform In Other Music, Sound Like Other Bands
The Other Music live video series continues here with Vampire Weekend, capturing the kids performing "Mansard Roof" and "A-Punk" and talking about, like, being in a band and listening to music and stuff. This is the same set we wiped the early-AM fatigue out of our eyes for during CMJ; we remembered Ezra's guitar being locked into the groove better, but then, it was only 10:30AM and we were still two hours from our first Sparks on the day.
Inquiring about the guys' first concerts attended and CDs purchased is obviously a good angle for an interviewer from a record store like Other Music, but we imagine Will Hermes of SPIN's curiosity was extraspecially piqued by those confessions, 'cause they speak directly to his take on the band: In a four-star lead review, Hermes makes note of VW's blogger-approved "shiny, staccato, reverbe-free African-style guiar lines," and believes Ezra Koenig "clearly has a few iPods' worth of rock history in his head." To wit, here's where SPIN thinks VW cops their sounds:
- "A-Punk" sounds like English Beat
- "The Kids Don't Stand A Chance" sounds like The Police
- "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" sounds like Paul Simon's Graceland
- "One (Blake's Got A New Face)" sounds like Phish "playing new wave"
- "Campus" sounds like The Strokes
Posted at 5:33 PM in Video
Tags: Vampire Weekend
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the title of this post is maybe one of four statements from SG that have actually been clever. thanks.
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@jet
umm, thank you?
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Is it just me, or does Vampire Weekend sound a lot like a hipper (hipster?) Bedouin Soundclash? I don't know...
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this band is just boring
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Boring? I'm afraid that I'll have to disagree. Only a few more days till the album's in stores!
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people don't go to stores to buy albums anymore.
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Are you really comparing your writing to that of a SPIN journalist? That's kinda funny, Stereogum.
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I've heard quite enough about Vampire Weekend for about the next year, thank you.
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couldn't they find a keyboard player that plays in time?
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I always they sound like an american Razorlight
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sorry about the missing words and bad grammar.
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this is post is spot on. though you could start an entire syndicate of blogs focused purely on this topic.
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this post IS spot on. though you could start an entire syndicate of blogs focused purely on this topic. (another grammar correction, sorry!)
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>
They're called off-beats, Erik. Rostam has no problems playing in time; he was a music major... You learn that sort of stuff when you're about nine.
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I need more early 60's bohemian attitude and collared shirts in my monitors, please.
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vampire weekend = they might be giants
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@w
they might be giants? are you retarded?
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this stuff kind of reminds of that dude sondre lerche or whatever his name is. i dont really see the deal with the hype? i saw em open for collective and they were a lot of fun, but why such a craze?
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I'm kinda' confused about all the craze, too, but I do like the songs I've heard. Why bash a band for having a lot of fans or ascending too rapidly? Just enjoy the music.
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P.S. That last comment was not aimed at anyone posting here. Just elitists and the internet in general.
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How awful. There's nothing REMOTELY African about these guys. Look at those cuffed jeans and boat shoes.
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patrick, you've obviously never been to africa. the borrow from african music styles. just not on these two songs. they picked the most "indie" songs for other music.
chris, they are so hyped up because anything remotely different these days steregum thinks is the greatest movement ever. apparently, it's being clean cut now.
j, mansard roof sounds like sondre lerche and they both sound like cole porter.
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Voice of Reason
Um...I'm 100% Ugandan and I've been to Africa five times.I have a collection of African music ranging from Belgian field recordings from Congo to the most absurd Kenyan hip-hop.
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i didn't know it was a bad thing for a band to be influenced and compared...all that i know is they are catchy and that's what matters.
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SG is doing a piss poor job of executing this VW backlash campaign.
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