Album: Vampire Weekend
Artist: Vampire Weekend
Born: Morningside Height, Manhattan, New York
Released: January 2008
Genre: Indie Afropop
"I see a man," said Ruth, "through the trees." I'm sure I wasn't the only who thought that those were the opening words to Vampire Weekend's debut album. In fact, the band were singing about a mansard roof, a four-sided roof with a double slope on all sides commonly found in Cape Cod; immediately the song transports you to the rarefied world of Ivy League students nostalgic for good design, in an era of "garbage and concrete". Since the outset, Vampire Weekend have faced criticism for the perception of being four "preppy" guys from elite backgrounds on a cultural tour of Afropop and reggae, mercilessly plundering its sounds for imperial gain. This is all just silly liberal guilt, of course; music has always been deeply hybrid, everything is a remix after all. Vampire Weekend's originality was taking indie music to a new level of super-hybridity. In his younger years, lead singer Ezra Koenig was in a hip hop group and, like many of his generation, became influenced by the genre's sampling and crate digging culture. As Simon Reynolds points out in Retromania, Koening had a blog called Internet Vibes and described himself as a "post-modern consumer, taking the bits and pieces [English landed gentry fashion, Jamaican "one riddim" albums, Native American pop] I like from various traditions and cultures, letting my aesthetic instincts be my guide." Thanks to the power of the internet, he was part of a post-modern generation who were at once disconnected from, and connected to, everything. Paul Simon and Talking Heads may have paid homage to Afropop long before Vampire Weekend did, but their music never travelled so seamlessly across time and geography, as in the mix of 50s rockabilly and Congolese soukos on Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.
Talking Heads are a good reference point, not just for the spidery guitar lines, but also the lyrics that speak to teenage confusion and anxiety. In Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, there's the couplet, "Is your bed made? Is your sweater off? / Do you want to? Like you know I do?", which brilliantly sums up the amateurishness of early sexual encounters. In the line, “this feels so unnatural / Peter Gabriel too”, there's a knowing reference to a "world music" pioneer, but also a sense of the bizarre nature of their endeavour, fusing the clever melodies and upbeat tempo of Buddy Holly-style pop with African polyrhythms and reggae. Rostam Batmanglij, the other key songwriter and producer in the group along side Koening, was just as instrumental in achieving this musical vision. As well as putting together many of the arrangements, he also contributes lyrics to Campus and M79, the latter one of my favourite tracks on the record. Another highlight is Oxford Comma, which has a great piano part written by Koening, layered with African guitars inspired by King Sunny Adé and Orchestra Baobab (the brilliant video was directed by Richard Ayoade). A-Punk also has the clean notes played on the high strings that characterise King Sunny Adé's guitar playing, as well as a twitchiness reminiscent of Talking Heads and the military style, indie rock drumming sound of bands like The Strokes. The second half of the record is a little weaker, but still has standout moments like Walcott. Though I enjoyed their follow-up album, Contra (2010), I found it less energetic and focused than their debut, as if some of their initial positivity had drained away. Putting aside any old-fashioned notions of authenticity, this album is one of the most perfect indie pop records of the modern era.
"I see a man," said Ruth, "through the trees." I'm sure I wasn't the only who thought that those were the opening words to Vampire Weekend's debut album. In fact, the band were singing about a mansard roof, a four-sided roof with a double slope on all sides commonly found in Cape Cod; immediately the song transports you to the rarefied world of Ivy League students nostalgic for good design, in an era of "garbage and concrete". Since the outset, Vampire Weekend have faced criticism for the perception of being four "preppy" guys from elite backgrounds on a cultural tour of Afropop and reggae, mercilessly plundering its sounds for imperial gain. This is all just silly liberal guilt, of course; music has always been deeply hybrid, everything is a remix after all. Vampire Weekend's originality was taking indie music to a new level of super-hybridity. In his younger years, lead singer Ezra Koenig was in a hip hop group and, like many of his generation, became influenced by the genre's sampling and crate digging culture. As Simon Reynolds points out in Retromania, Koening had a blog called Internet Vibes and described himself as a "post-modern consumer, taking the bits and pieces [English landed gentry fashion, Jamaican "one riddim" albums, Native American pop] I like from various traditions and cultures, letting my aesthetic instincts be my guide." Thanks to the power of the internet, he was part of a post-modern generation who were at once disconnected from, and connected to, everything. Paul Simon and Talking Heads may have paid homage to Afropop long before Vampire Weekend did, but their music never travelled so seamlessly across time and geography, as in the mix of 50s rockabilly and Congolese soukos on Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.
Talking Heads are a good reference point, not just for the spidery guitar lines, but also the lyrics that speak to teenage confusion and anxiety. In Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, there's the couplet, "Is your bed made? Is your sweater off? / Do you want to? Like you know I do?", which brilliantly sums up the amateurishness of early sexual encounters. In the line, “this feels so unnatural / Peter Gabriel too”, there's a knowing reference to a "world music" pioneer, but also a sense of the bizarre nature of their endeavour, fusing the clever melodies and upbeat tempo of Buddy Holly-style pop with African polyrhythms and reggae. Rostam Batmanglij, the other key songwriter and producer in the group along side Koening, was just as instrumental in achieving this musical vision. As well as putting together many of the arrangements, he also contributes lyrics to Campus and M79, the latter one of my favourite tracks on the record. Another highlight is Oxford Comma, which has a great piano part written by Koening, layered with African guitars inspired by King Sunny Adé and Orchestra Baobab (the brilliant video was directed by Richard Ayoade). A-Punk also has the clean notes played on the high strings that characterise King Sunny Adé's guitar playing, as well as a twitchiness reminiscent of Talking Heads and the military style, indie rock drumming sound of bands like The Strokes. The second half of the record is a little weaker, but still has standout moments like Walcott. Though I enjoyed their follow-up album, Contra (2010), I found it less energetic and focused than their debut, as if some of their initial positivity had drained away. Putting aside any old-fashioned notions of authenticity, this album is one of the most perfect indie pop records of the modern era.
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