katsy

VW has a release date for their new album! (I'm super pumped) Vampire Weekend is one of my favorite bands and they were my gateway band to the *indie* genre. So, they will always have a soft spot in my heart.

It hasn't been titled yet but the release date(s) is May 6/7. According to an interview with Koeing it is a "much darker and more organic" album.

“It really does feel like the third chapter in a book,” Koenig told Q. ”We created some characters on the first record, some of which are real people, some of which are ourselves, so it’s not hard to keep following them and see what their concerns are now and how their lives have changed.”

Genuinely excited for this album and (eeek) tour.

--If there is a thread for VW elsewhere I couldn't find it.

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Split the Lark-- and you'll find the Music - Emily Dickinson

FRED HALE SR.

This would be considered one of those bands that I keep in the closet for the most part but I really dug the last album. I know its simplistic pop with ska induced chords bit I find myself really enjoying their music. I'll be sure to check out the new one and hope they certainly do create a different sounding album then the last. Its just good fun music to throw on at parties and have a good time to.

katsy

Yeah, I agree about the sound. I think that is why it was so easy for me to get into them. (However, my hubs thinks they are incredibly inaccessible and is loathing the new album already) VW are what I consider *fun* music. I enjoy the afro-pop/ska inspired sound they have. They remind me of Paul Simon.

They received so much hype with the previous albums. I hope they can live up to the expectations the fans have.

This is a new song I found-- I'm assuming it will be on the new album.

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Split the Lark-- and you'll find the Music - Emily Dickinson

FRED HALE SR.

I can definitely hear a Paul Simon vibe. They aren't very experimental but whats wrong with having a formula that works. I will certainly listen to the new album not sure about purchasing it outright however.

joy_circumcision

uh oh not another

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Engine

I think their 1st album was openly a rip-off of Paul Simon (in a good way). I liked the first few songs I heard but the whole album was a little too much for me. One day I considered listening to it but did not - and then I never listened to the band again. I hadn't realized there was even a second album.

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Like an arrow,
I was only passing through.

Neapolitan

Not rip off of Paul Simon, but Juluka.

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FRED HALE SR.

To be fair its probably a ripoff of first wave ska but doesn't everyone borrow from the bread bin so to speak? Everyone musically inclined is influenced either directly or indirectly by what their ears deem redeemable. I wouldn't call it a ripoff so much as borrowing musical tendencies from others.

katsy

I think that the second album, Contra, was generally better received than the first.

My favorite from Contra:

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Split the Lark-- and you'll find the Music - Emily Dickinson

Neapolitan

To be fair Engine brought up the "rip-off" part... please I don't want to take credit for something that he said first.

I wasn't so much concern if they were rip-offs or not. I just want to note if they were infleunced by certain artists/bands it wouldn't be strictly Paul Simon because the music on his songs was perfromed by a band from Africa. Years before Paul Simon's Graceland, Peter Gabriel went to Africa to studied African drumming. So Paul Simon isn't the first but probably the most recognize propent of Africa music in Rock and Pop because he recorded and toured with Juluka and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

When I first heard of Vampire Weekend I was unaware what they were band supposively playing a African music influenced Pop, but that is how they are described by some critics. I thought they were influence by music of the 60s - but different from the typical early UK bands and Psychedelia music.

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