Vampire Weekend
by Vampire Weekend

An odd case for me, this great band. I'm probably in the minority, but to me, their albums have gotten better and better, so by definition this is their least strong album for me. It's a scary thought. Personally, I think if they keep up their craft and dedication, they can be our generation's Beatles in terms of releasing consistent material. Two more great albums after Modern Vampires and I'll pretty much be sold on that, concerning a single band's peak. Anyway, only after falling in love with their next two albums, do I really appreciate this one. It's the precursor to their evolving sound. So it's hard to deny this album as important.

An album that became a cornerstone of so many things. Genre-defining, period-defining and culturally defining. This album was my go-to my freshman year of college, having gone from a not great public high school to an elite university. The way that they use heavy-handed stereotypes of the weird elite school culture they found themselves in really resonated with me and I'm always a bit sad when I hear people write them off as pretentious and preppy because if you've ever been in that culture and you get the references they're making you realize it's so absurd and over the top that the last thing they're doing is positively portraying the things that people think they stand for. The public image of that lifestyle and the reality of it are just so different that people don't catch the sarcasm that's built into it and the culture shock from which it stems.

One of the very few albums that I can conclusively point to as playing a part in who I am today and an all-time classic to boot. Eagerly awaiting LP 4 and the subsequent tour because they kick ass live too.

From paladisiac TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/09/2011 18:26 | #32496 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

vampire weekend blatantly rip off paul simon (or peter gabriel, as name-dropped) and maybe a little police as well. And like those artists, nearly every song sounds like a hit on this album. i love the shimmering guitars, off-kilter drumming and violin on "mansard roof". "oxford comma" is preppy fun. "a-punk" brings the energy with chipper guitar and building bverse. i love the string action in "m79". "cape cod kwassa kwassa" is the song that definitely sounds like paul simon but name-drops peter gabriel (although there's a simliar sounding influence for both) with bongos and crooning for the sake of an sexual encounter. I could name-drop every song, but if you like "cape cod kwassa kwassa", then this album is for you. There's absolutely no let up.

This album is fine, but man it gets so much better from here.

From mayonaise93 04/30/2010 01:04 | #11174 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

A fun album from start to finish with witty song writing. I really love this album and if you don't you need to lighten up and turn off your Radiohead. I get the impression a lot of people here are intimidated by this bands intelligence and knowledge which is funny in itself, or should I say hysterical. Who gives a fuck about an oxford comma? LOL.