Vampire Weekend took over the Bowery Ballroom last night for the first of two sold out shows. Having signed to XL Recordings last year, the band was clearly in the mood to celebrate the release of their debut album, the self-titled Vampire Weekend.
The finally out "Vampire Weekend" is the best album made by four overly educated, unbearably white kids since forever, or at least since Weezer's "Pinkerton." Despite -- or maybe because of -- the fact that it's the most brazen cultural appropriation since Simon's "Graceland," it's a dazzler, one of those albums that would be interesting merely because it existed, even if it wasn't very good.
Informed by ska, calypso, Men's Vogue, Talking Heads and low-budget horror flicks -- and fortified by organs and various classical fillips -- "Vampire Weekend" is sui generis. Its calling-card track, "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," is a preppies-go-to-Africa charmer that acknowledges its own inherent weirdness ("It feels so unnatural/Peter Gabriel too"). Like most of "Vampire Weekend," it's bouncy and driven by bongo-like island drums, though whether the island is Madagascar or Nantucket, it's hard to say. (Washington Post)
I thought the show was really good. The set was most of the new album with a couple new tunes thrown in. Having seen them a couple times, I kind of know what to expect by now. But that is not a bad thing. In fact, its a really good thing. I can't help but groove and bounce to their music.
Hopefully the hype backlash won't slow them down. When MTV (VW video gets love on channel) and John Norris (was there reporting with camera crew last night) are buzzing around, it is quite possible to either go massive or fizzle out quickly.
dude. that's my hand (i would recognize my ridiculous nail polish anywhere). sorry!
Posted by: genevieve | Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 06:37 PM