Vampire Weekend

In just over a year, Vampire Weekend have gone from being a little-known New York secret to a worldwide phenomenom. The extent of their rapid rise to fame hits you in the face when you go to see them live and realise they barely have enough songs to fill a headline set. But it really is no suprise that their music is so widely loved. Their clean, African-infused pop is so simple, so catchy, its just too good to resist. Their debut album is an exhilarating display of music that doesn't disappoint for a moment. Sure, the effect has worn off a little, but I can still remember how fresh every song felt when I first discovered it. I'd say this video, which is absolutely brilliant, nicely sums up the fun and energy that comes with Vampire Weekend.



Seeing them live was a whole new experience. I was a little hesitant going in, but they delivered in spades. The first thing I noticed was the crowd response. The show sold in days, but this was months ago, at the height of their spectacular rise. Perhaps the enthusiasm had worn off? Not at all. The venue was packed and they were singing every word. It was pretty cool in songs like M79 where Ezra stood so far back from the microphone for the chanting bit that he was barely auidble, but all he had to do was open his mouth and the crowd sprung to life, singing it for him.

The other thing that struck me was just how sparing the instrumentation is. Watching the musicians, you realise that the guitars and keyboards are only being played half of the time. This means that along with the rhythm section (drum and bass), the vocals are left to drive the song. There's not many other bands out there that are leaving themselves so open and still coming away strong. It's what allows them to achieve such nice clean sound. Their songs are solid enough that all Vampire Weekend had to do was come out and perform them and everyone would have been happy. Instead, they delivered all their charm and put on a great show.

Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

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