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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
Fully realized debut albums like Vampire Weekend come along once in a great while, and these songs show that this band is smart, but not too smart for their own good.
100
This is emotionally pulling music, but they instill such a vivid, literary sense to it that I find hard to ignore.
88
Bring any baggage you want to this record, and it still returns nothing but warm, airy, low-gimmick pop, peppy, clever, and yes, unpretentious
80
Vampire Weekend take their Ivy League education, their New Jersey upbringing, and turn it outward – arms open, hurling themselves across the freshly cut college grass, shirts creasing under the afternoon sun.
80
Vampire Weekend have created a record which includes the kind of structures, influences and classical elements that your average Hard-Fi fan isn’t likely to understand, but present them in such a way that doesn’t yell ‘LOOK AT US, WE’RE USING COMPLICATED STUFF AND YOU’RE LISTENING TO RUBBISH COD REGGAE! HA!’.
67
The young band's saving grace is compactness, which not only saves thousands of dollars in kora-player and backup-singer bills, but also keeps things alert and accessible.
Vampire Weekend's debut is very connected to my future goals... I think.
I want to go to an Ivy League school (dream is Brown, crossing my fingers), and get a local band together if the one I'm in right now doesn't work out. If I were to make indie rock (or, for that matter, any music in general), I would focus on the many influences that have had a major impact on my life and musical definition.
With a classical music influence, and a form of indie rock never before heard, Vampire Weekend's ... read more
I want to go to an Ivy League school (dream is Brown, crossing my fingers), and get a local band together if the one I'm in right now doesn't work out. If I were to make indie rock (or, for that matter, any music in general), I would focus on the many influences that have had a major impact on my life and musical definition.
With a classical music influence, and a form of indie rock never before heard, Vampire Weekend's ... read more
Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut is one of my favorite albums of all time solely because of how shockingly perfect it is. Usually when I give an album a 100, it's either due to nostalgia, emotion, or the fact that I've never heard anything like it. Literally none of these factors are in play here. I didn't grow up with this album, it doesn't make me feel a certain way other than pure joy, and honestly, it sounds fairly similar to the rest of the band's work (like, every other VW album is ... read more
Probably one of the most accessible and fun-to-listen-to pop albums I've ever heard. Everything from the songwriting to the melodies is pleasant to the ears. There's no revolutionary new sound here or some groundbreaking music innovation but that's okay because it's just GOOD MUSIC. Music doesn't have to be cutting edge to be memorable and this album is a testament to that.
Strong 8/10
Strong 8/10
I think by looking at this album from a quality stand-point, Vampire Weekend's self titled is actually very good. It has these super slick guitar riffs and fun African rhythms that mix up to create this really colorful, quirky indie-pop sound. Although sometimes it's hard to decipher the witty lyrics and many references, I think that's what makes this album stand out so much.
To be honest, in terms of enjoyment, I can't really say that I have a lot of fun listening to this. (Except for ... read more
To be honest, in terms of enjoyment, I can't really say that I have a lot of fun listening to this. (Except for ... read more
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Year End Lists
| #2 | / | Consequence of Sound |
| #3 | / | Paste |
| #4 | / | NME |
| #4 | / | Q Magazine |
| #6 | / | musicOMH |
| #7 | / | A.V. Club |
| #7 | / | Pitchfork |
| #7 | / | The Guardian |
| #9 | / | No Ripcord |
| #10 | / | Rolling Stone |
More Lists
Track List
- Mansard Roof
- Oxford Comma
- A-Punk
- Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
- M79
- Campus
- Bryn
- One (Blake's Got a New Face)
- I Stand Corrected
- Walcott
- The Kids Don't Stand a Chance
- Ladies of Cambridge (Japanese edition bonus track)
- Arrows (Japanese edition bonus track)
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