A Higher Glyphic

Media Credit: Jamie Drendel

["Mansard Roof" I see a Mansard Roof through the trees/I see a salty message written in the eaves/The ground beneath my feet/The hot garbage and concrete/And now the tops of buildings, I can see them too]

That was the opening track, "Mansard Roof," from the self-titled debut album of the indie, afro-pop group Vampire Weekend.

The four-man band released their EP in January, but buzz about the group began to spread last year in the blogosphere. The Vampires-Ezra Koenig on lead vocals and guitar, Rostam Batmanglij on keyboard, vocals and guitar, Chris Tomson on drums, and Chris BAY-O on bass-describe their sound as "Upper West Side Soweto"…whatever that means.

They toured Europe with the indie-Portland-based group The Shins even before their album was released. They appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, the BBC TV program Later with Jools Holland alongside Supergrass and The Kills and had a song used on an episode of Skins. They were declared "The Year's Best New Band" in the March 2008 issue of Spin magazine and were the first band ever to be shot for the cover before releasing their debut CD.

Rolling Stone ranked their "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" 67th on their list of the 100 Best Songs of the year in 2007. Here's a snippet.

["Cape Cod Kwass Kwassa" And the linens/You're Sitting On/Is your bed made?/Is your sweater on?/Do you want to?/Like you know I do]

Not bad for a bunch of geeky, starched shirts from Columbia University.

Their Ivy League/New England roots are evident in a number of their lyrics and song titles, such as "Oxford Comma." "Who give an expletive about an Oxford comma?/I've seen those English dramas too/They're cruel

[FADE TO SONG: So if there's any other way/To spell the word/It's fine with me, with me/Why would you speak to me that way/Especially when I always said that I/Haven't got the words for you/All your diction dripping with disdain]

Their environment is also obvious in the breezy tone that prevails throughout the CD. Each song is carried by light percussion, playful singing and fresh melodies. It seems the group put sense aside when they wrote some songs, as they don't make a great deal of sense to the layman or tell a clear story. But after all it is difficult to rhyme words and phrases such as Dharamsala, madras, Khyber Pass, Jackson Crowter and Darjeeling into a something that makes sense.

Most of those words, by the way, originate from this song, "M79."

["M79" No excuse to be so callous/Dress yourself in bleeding madras/Charm your way across the Khyber Pass/Stay awake to break the habit/Sing in praise of Jackson Crowter/Watch your step along the arch of glass]

The band met while attending Columbia University, and the name for the group was taken from a film Koenig and Tomson made together with members of the band Ra Ra Riot, which was entitled "Vampire Weekend." It told the story of a boy named Walcott who was charged by an elder to dispatch a vampiric horde in Cape Cod and escape. Their song "Walcott" depicts the plot of the film.

["Walcott" The lobster's claw/Is sharp as knives/Evil feasts/On human lives/The Holy Roman Empire/Roots for you]

This group's debut is an impressive one. Youth, creativity, and a vampire-reference here and there are ingredients for many happy weekends to come.

If you're interested, check out the vampires at Official Vampire Weekend Site.

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