A film entitled Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist recently came out. The film centers on kids spending the night together with the same taste in music. Their love for independent alternative rock bands unites them. In the film, a track by a New York Indie band, Vampire Weekend named “Ottoman” makes its debut and also appears on the soundtrack.
When I heard about this band, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I couldn’t believe that a band that made such beautiful music flew completely under my radar. Vampire Weekend is praised by internationally recognized media outlets such as Rolling Stone, Spin, and NME.
Vampire Weekend was formed in 2006 by singer/guitarist Ezra Koenig. Their first single off of their Self titled-debut album “Mansard Roof” is strangely unique in that it has African Tribal influence combined with what sounds like the mandolin from “That’s Amore” backed by drummer Topper Headon.
The most popular song off the record is “A-Punk” which was criticized and called the weakest song on the album at first. Given it's mainstream-like tendencies, "A-Punk" is far from the standard and predictable song.
The best aspect about this album is that not one idea is repeated. I have not heard a hook like the one in “A-Punk” since the young Cobain sang about needing an easier friend than the insufficient one he was currently seeing.
“Oxford Comma” begins with a drum introduction that is similar to "The Stooges’ No Fun" by Chris Tomson, but goes into Koenig protesting a group of Colombian students who wish to preserve the Oxford Comma. With splendid keyboard work by Rostam Batmanglij, the single stands out as another brilliant work of art.
The last single on the album “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” was voted by Rolling Stone as one of the best songs of last year for a reason. It is a great sample of nearly all of the album's elements in three minutes. It goes on graceful tangeants including African Tribal beats, brilliant bass lines, great sounding clean guitar riffs, and lyrics about Genesis members. ‘Feels so natural/Peter Gabriel too’ is repeated throughout the chorus to add the comic element Koenig’s last band had, leaving out their notorious repetition.
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