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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.
Amazing
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 ... read more
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 ... read more
There’s just something about Vampire Weekend’s debut that is so cathartic to me. It’s lyrics are dispensed in such a carefree way that you might miss some of the albums more serious themes.
This is easily one of the catchiest and easy to listen to albums out there for me, honestly their whiles discography is synonymous with those descriptors.
There is such a wide range of cultural influences in the music and it adds another level of uniqueness to a band that as soon as you ... read more
This is easily one of the catchiest and easy to listen to albums out there for me, honestly their whiles discography is synonymous with those descriptors.
There is such a wide range of cultural influences in the music and it adds another level of uniqueness to a band that as soon as you ... read more
Don't be fooled, these Ivy League kids know how to use their worldly knowledge to make more than music from trendy elitist subgenres that permeate the college scene. Between the minimalist African drums, light synths and their poignant soft (yet fast!) guitars, you get a sense that Vampire Weekend is making something more than just a fad here. On their debut, Vampire Weekend forms an upbeat take on the indie rock genre that can get rather lifeless at its worst moments.
On Vampire Weekend’s debut album, the band incorporates energetic African rhythms and colourful instrumentation to provide a refreshing twist to the indie rock sound. Though I’ve always had trouble trying to understand Ezra Koenig’s witty and very literate lyrics, his vocal quirks make the listening experience very enjoyable.
Highlights: Oxford Comma, A-Punk, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, Campus, One (Blake’s Got A New Face), Walcott
Highlights: Oxford Comma, A-Punk, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, Campus, One (Blake’s Got A New Face), Walcott
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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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