Musical hybridization, mashing-up, wearing your varied influences so loudly on your sleeve that you’ve practically blocked out any sign of individuality – whatever you label it, the big musical meal ticket this year is to indulge your eclectic side by taking one forgotten or less-than-favourable genre, mix it with something a little more up-to-the-minute and voila, one piping hot sound perfectly suited for the poorly named MySpace generation.
At least, that’s what the broadsheets, print mags and a few online sites are touting as a key ingredient to success with this year’s incoming freshman class of acts to keep an eye on in ‘08. From the looks of things, it’s an idea that’s catching on with the people because they’re out in force tonight to get a glimpse of the four Ivy League via Brooklyn types in Vampire Weekend whose marriage of afro-rhythms and straight-up pop has cringe-worthingly been called (by the band themselves) ‘Upper West Side Soweto’. Ridiculous? Tongue in cheek? You decide.
Stepping out to a roar from the audience dressed like extras from frat comedy classic Animal House, Vampire Weekend are all white teeth and clean haircuts as they strike the stop-start first chords of album opener, ‘Mansard Roof’. On record, their skewered take on guitar pop has enough kinks in it to partially cater to the Strokes/Walkmen pedigree that helped define the sound of their city in the first half of this decade. Even if, at their most basic, it’s difficult to deny the underlying strain of AOR imbedded in Vampire Weekend’s DNA.
Yank back the curtain, as it inevitably is, in the live arena though, and any semblance of spiky intrigue is completely abandoned to reveal a white-washed entity purely indebted to the sounds of Paul Simon’s Graceland or Sting’s broad forays into world music. A point well represented by the poor man’s skank of ‘Boston’ or the much-feted ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’, a song that devolves into the lowest dregs of forgettable, ‘80s collegiate pop rock, with the band looking visibly pleased at the fact that yes, they’ve ‘cleverly’ referenced a long-standing vacation hot spot for affluent New Yorkers and a dance rhythm hailing from the much-maligned Congo in the space of a single song title.
Which brings forth a question about Vampire Weekend. Are they, as all the column inches keep touting, brilliant 21st century alchemists conspiring to bring a joyous sense of afro-funk to typically stiff white boy pop? Or, are they nothing more than over-educated young men indulging in a shallow cultural appropriation that borders on hollow pastiche? Early signs may once have pointed towards the former, but on the evidence of tonight, the latter looks set to be the case. And that is simply inexcusable.
Photo: Masatoo Hirano, from Flickr
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BRAVO!
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woot woot !!
yeah but
the paul simon thing really bugs me. he isn't the only white man with an interest in african music, though you would oft be told otherwise.
some of their songs are a bit dick (that walcot one esp.) but they definitely are getting way more shit from DoS than they deserve.
that nonce from foals said they were really influenced by african music, and noone seems too fussed. (here I normally insert my joke, for one night only: "just because the kele from bloc party is black doesn't make it an african influence").
Of course...
There is nothing wrong with being a white musician showing interest in African music. And yes, Paul Simon is not the only one. See Brian Eno's and David Byrne work on 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts' for a stellar example of this.
But the Paul Simon connection is apt here. Vampire Weekend peddle a similar sounding AOR (even if they try to deny it) and in this instance, their approach is fundamentally flawed. Even if the idea isn’t necessarily so.
Listen to the
doomy opening chords of 'The Boy In The Bubble' and tell me Paul Simon's Graceland isn't an amazing album. I really think it's rough justice that people slur tepid indie-rock by (falsely) aligning it with an album that (shy of one or two mis-steps) is full of rich, intriguing, intelligent pop.
The stuff I've heard from these lot doesn't seem much
They reminded me a bit of the Bedomin Soundclash, who were pretty crap. Don't understand why they get so much praise and tips as 'the next big thing'. Good to see a few others feel they are rubbish as well.
good review
i didn't think much of them either.
re
"over-educated"?
cheap
Well, Mansard Roof is quite good
I guess one good song is better than most people manage.
Otherwise agreed and I have the urge to listen to something a bit crass and ill considered.
Splitting Opinion....
I saw Vampire Weekend at the Borderline last year, and I thought they were pretty good. I was impressed with the way every note was clean & deliberate, and the rhythms were part of the energy. It is just something a bit different at present, even if we have heard it in the past. I think it is really unfair to judge them as being almost cynical in the construction of their sound. There is something inherently wrong about criticising bands for creating music in styles you would associate with different cultures. I didn't think you needed to present your passport before you were entitled to be enthused enough to make music a particular way.
That said, I can understand that maybe lyrically and the way they present themselves could seem a bit smug - I am sure this will inevitably divide opinion. Personally, I chose to find it endearing....
well written review
but it kind of masks the fact that you have completely ignored that the album contains 4 or 5 of the best tunes I, and I assume everyone else with a pair of ears, has heard for ages. And popular music, essentially, is about tunes.
Loving the stealth jag there