Vampire Weekend - Best New Band?
A Think Piece On New Yorks Newest Band To Hit Big Time
Hailing from New York, Vampire Weekend seem on first impressions to be another of those bands who cause a stir in the press and burn brightly for a while before fizzling out. It may seem like that and for the jaded music fan they may try to avoid them but this band are special.
New Wave College Rock
Formed while in college, in 2006, singer Ezra Koenig, guitar and keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson and bassist Chris Baio took their name from a film Ezra made for his studies. Mixing Afrobeat music with indie guitar rock they immediately caused a stir with the release of first single Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.
With influences ranging from the aforementioned Afrobeat music (Peter Gabriel even gets namechecked in Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa) to the angular guitars of Talking Heads, they sound like nothing that has come before. With an image that places them in the same category of the nice boy's next door it seems strange that they can cause such a ripple in the press.
Festival Fever
With an album which has been rapturously received, they have built on this with a series of live shows which have taken them into the European market and offered a new alternative to the humdrum indie/blues which seems to be the only other option. It doesn't seem surprising that NME voted them the most important band around today.
While this comment does seem to be overused (and really, is any band that important?) they have made an impact in Britain which has been nothing short of a tidal wave. The British summer festival season has offered them a chance to reach a larger audience causing a snowball effect which culminated in a fantastic performance at the Reading Festival where the entire tent sang along to every word. It seems like the journey from Glastonbury, where they played an afternoon slot in the rain (ironic considering the rest of the festival was sunny) finally came to a head at the last festival of the summer.
With an imminent tour of Britain sold out and a fanbase which is as rabid about there band as such other 'cult' bands such as Super Furry Animals it really does seem like this band can do no wrong. Only time will tell if they really are all they have been hyped up to be, and the second album should be proof of this, but for now they are untouchable compared to anyone else on the music scene.
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