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.
Vampire Weekend played the East River Music Project Saturday afternoon. A gorgeous day was injected with VW's blend of afro-inspired-rock for about an hour while the mostly laid back crowd soaked it all in.
This was the band's first NYC show in a while as they have been taking their sounds across America - including a stop at the KEXP studios for a performance. Apparently, the boys have come back with some new material and are heading in to the studio to record a proper first LP. They played a couple new tunes during the set (didn't catch names) which sounded good on first listen. Later Saturday evening they opened up for Tokyo Police Club and Ra Ra Riot at Maxwell's.
VW is on tour throughout August with YACHT and the Dirty Projectors then back in NYC next month to help break in the Music Hall of Williamsburg on September 8th.
View the rest of my pics here
Stale Bread - Vampire Weekend 06.02.07
