Call it the law of indie rock criticism: For every overly effusive review of the The Next Big Thing, there's an equal and opposite review calling them crap.
Sadly, that law is clearly hard at work with Vampire Weekend, a band that quickly climbed into mainstream listener's ears with their second LP, Contra, even as many critics and listeners derided them as being overly precious preppies. It's true that the band met at Columbia University, and that their music isn't so rock and roll as smart, cultivated and even a little worldly, considering the African influence. But read into most of the backlash comments you see, and you detect a pretty clear prejudice against the band's background rather than their music.
This is pretty unfair criticism. In truth, Vampire Weekend offers up catchy songs, with the ska-driven "A-Punk" and witty "Oxford Comma" being their first two hits. The only thing that seems to be objectionable is who they are and where they're from.
The band formed in 2006, when Ezra Koenig (vocals, guitar), Chris Baio (bass), Rostram Batmanglij (keyboards, guitar) and Chris Tomson (drums) were in their final years at Columbia University. They started out by playing house parties and even some literary societies, and word quickly spread online. They're one of the classic examples of modern bands making it big through the blogosphere. As sites like Stereogum and Pitchfork caught wind of them, they started seeing incredible exposure.
By the time they released a debut record in 2008, the band was receiving rave reviews both online and in print. They had a clear influence from Paul Simon's Graceland album, and tracks like "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," which refers to the African style of music that appears in the song, became widely cited as evidence of the band's distinctive sound. Their record climbed to number 17 on the Billboard 200-no small feat for a band that had only some generous Internet buzz the year before.
It wasn't long afterward that the praise that was building around the band began to snap back in the other direction. Some listeners probably weren't sure what to make of the band's tastes in world beat, and simply waved them off as too clever for their own good.
Regardless of their critics, the band soldiered on, putting out a second LP, Contra, at the start of 2010. If there were doubts about the band's longevity, those were done away with: the record debuted at the number one spot on the Billboard 200. The band was one of the few indie artists to have their record debut at number one, and clearly proved that the Internet could slingshot a band to fame in the modern age.
While there were still plenty of detractors, the band's fans couldn't complain. The record was even better than the debut, and they're now on tour supporting it. Buy Vampire Weekend tickets online today to hear them performing live.
Author Resource:-
This article is sponsored by StubHub. StubHub.com is a leader in the business of selling Vampire Weekend tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.alltimeinfo.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
