Much has been written about the non-threatening tunes of the New York Upper West Side band, Vampire Weekend. Just this past week, they claimed the number one record in all the land with their sophomore effort, Contra (you can listen to the entire thing, for free, at the band's website). This followed the critically acclaimed self titled debut. You can lump me in with what seems like the rest of the world as a big fan. My first listen to Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa and A Punk, in 2008, was a delight. The sounds were arranged differently than what I was used to; the lead singer (Ezra Koenig) sounded fresh with an accent of unfamiliar origin; the pace was quick and unaplogetic. This was fun music with an intellectual underpinning.
By now most know the basics of the band's story. Formed while all members were still attending Columbia University. Self-made band with no outside interference. Melting pot of Western, African and miscellaneous influences. Rise to acclaim quickly as their music was embraced from coast to coast. The story needs no further musings from myself.
What I am more interested in is why this particular band rose above the indie-hype machine. What makes this young band catch on more universally than similar acts? MGMT had similar reviews, developed in New York and an built a full indie following. But while MGMT is relegated to being nominated 2 years late for a proposterus Best New Artist Grammy and their album tops out at #38 on Billboard, Vampire Weekend blows them away nationally and sells 120+ thousand records in their first week. What separates these seemingly similar bands?
The Sound
This would be what you would think, right? In theory this is the only reason why anybody would listen to any band. If you didn't like what you heard, you would not continue to listen. You would surely not buy the second album. Based on the sales figures for Contra, it is clear that we all like what we hear from Vampire Weekend. This alone is not enough to push a band into the rarified air of which Vampire Weekend is climbing upon.
Koenig has given many interviews on how the perculiar sound of Vampire Weekend came together and continues to progress. From Spin in 2008
This is a clear departure from what you may expect from the front man of the best selling band in the country. You can hear it in all the songs. Strings where you expect drums. Bongos where you never found bongos before. Hand drums and harpsichords in a modern rock album? This is new. This is exciting.Koenig claims the right to cherry-pick across lines of culture, race, genre, and class because, as the descendent of Eastern European Jewish immigrants, he is himself an outsider of sorts. And having wrestled with issues of authenticity and cultural appropriation as a deracinated fourth-generation Ivy Leaguer, he's concluded that he's allowed to do whatever the hell he wants.
I have trouble acknowledging this as the great catalyst towards super-stardom, however. The public, in general, does not embrace that which it is not comfortable. If anything, this should have been a detriment to the success of the band. There is a diffenence between becoming a melting pot of influences and trending towards true expirimentation. Vampire Weekend does an excellent job of staying away from the 'weird' end of the spectrum. The 'weird' end is the last place the public looks for music.
The Live Show
Many artists gain a strong following based on incredible live performances. Ever go to or see a video of a Vampire Weekend show? You could easily take them out of their surroundings, put them at your local coffee shop and most people wouldn't even blink. They play great versions of their songs, but this is not the factor which would spur 120,000 sales of Contra in a week.
The Lyrics
Koenig has a way with words. As an English major, he clearly has a grasp on how to structure his lyrical content. It's a treat to hear words which have never graced popular music being thrown around. But similarly to the way the new sound could have led to a backlash, the word choices could also be a point of contention.
I for one don't expect to sit down to listen to a new album with Wikipedia and Dictionary.com open on my computer. Connecting to an audience is more difficult if you are not using an agreed upon language. This is why Sigur Ros can never really catch on here despite being a terrifically talented band. There is a reason why the most popular songs of all time are not pushing 20 on the Flesch-Kincaid readibility scale. We need to be able to sing along.
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To this point, we have seen that Vampire Weekend should be a niche group with a solid following. Nothing suggests they should have caught on in such an impressive way. If it is not about the music itself, we have to look deeper at the audience and how we become Vampire Weekend fans.
I Heart Vampire Weekend
You want some street cred in the 2008? Throw on some Vamp Weekend, bro. That'll show your friends.
Oh, you've never heard them before, well let me turn it up for you. Yeah, you hear that? It's the Afro-influence. Cool, huh? Hold on, let me play that again. That is my favorite line. "Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma/I climbed to Dharamsala too". So good! Dharamsala? It's in India, dude, get cultured.
This conversation happened approximately 27,437 times over the course of the last 16 months. You know exactly who you heard this from too. It could have been your sister, your brother, a friend, someone at a record store (wait, scratch that, no one goes there anymore). Yes, there were those who stumbled upon Vampire Weekend before they had become the instant-indie-litmus test of trendiness. A strange thing happens, though, in our hyper speed world. Once a band lands on sites such as Stereogum, they are instantly released to the masses. This happened to Vampire Weekend on April 17th, 2007. 2007! Somehow Vampire Weekend maintains its stance as an indie* band after over 3 years in the spotlight.
*This is not the time to discuss what indie means. I am simply using indie as a term to refer to what might oppose the standard mainstream.
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Only one step left. Why has Vampire Weekend become more widely considered cool, while other bands rise and fall?
The Whiteness Factor: Merit or not?
Scan through a Google search of Vampire Weekend and you will see a particular issue consistently. There is a racial undercurrent to Vampire Weekend from which much debate has surfaced.
Being an Upper Westside New York based band would clearly lead to an audience of a certain demographic. This is a non-issue. The audience should, however, become more diverse as the popluarity grows and more people are exposed to the band. A band with the number one album should definitely have a wide audience base. Not Vampire Weekend. Look at the shows. Read the reviews. They are predominantly a middle class white band.
I have no problem with the audience. People shouldn't be scrutinized for who they choose who they listen to. Nor should Vampire Weekend be chastised for incorporating African influence, as some argue. Make whatever music you want and listen to whatever music you want.
Christian Lander, author of Stuff White People Like, was asked who is the whitest band in the music industry. Mr. Lander is a comedy writer, but something must be said to this analysis. There has to be something to why middle class white people like this band so much. He tells Salon.com:
Right now? I have to say Vampire Weekend all the way. They're pushing it to levels unseen.
On a recent appearance on MTV's Unplugged concert series, Koenig took the chance to explain the appeal of Vampire Weekend. I think his words are revealing,
I think all of us, we look at the movies, the music, the art as being a continum. So for us, you know, the way that our album looks, the way that our music sounds, the words that we use in the lyrics, the way the videos look, it is all essentially part of the same thing which is Vampire Weekend. So we don't really differentiate and i think when you are a band you can kind of pretend it is just about the music, but it's not.
Vampire Weekend is a band of Columbia graduates. They are many things, but above anything they are very smart and savvy. The Vampire Weekend package is very well put together and targeted towards a certain kind audience. An audience which is both specific, yet wide reaching. An audience which embraces the band fully.
Now, if you don't mind, I have to go buy a Lacoste sweater; I'm thinking about starting a Vampire Weekend cover band.
