Vampire Weekend is my new music obsession. I seriously cannot get enough of their self-titled album.
It's fun, it's quirky, it has a fucking HARPSICHORD.
From what I've read, they're four ex-Columbia kids (the Ivy League university, not the country [which would be Colombia]) who spice up their east coast prep-school style with Afro-pop influences that's most obvious in the heavy rhythm and drum beats.
Here's an excellent review on Pitchfork.
Vampire Weekend come along like Belle & Sebastian and the Strokes each did, sounding refreshingly laidback and uncomplicated, and with simple set-ups that make good songs sound exceedingly easy. (The result being not "this is mind-blowing," or "this is catchy," but "I have listened to this, straight through, four times a day for the past month".)(emphasis mine)
The bolded portion is entirely accurate - from the moment I got this album I've listened to it non-stop all the way through. It helps that the songs are relatively short, but they're exceedingly catchy and lively - a pleasure to the ear that is almost addicting. You don't want to put it away because it's so spirit raising and infectiously happy.
Bring any baggage you want to this record, and it still returns nothing but warm, airy, low-gimmick pop, peppy, clever, and yes, unpretentious-- four guys who listened to some Afro-pop records, picked up a few nice ideas, and then set about making one of the most refreshing and replayable indie records in recent years.
Mostly this album makes me want to go sailing on a warm day between Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket with my preppy dog and a grosgrain ribbon in my hair while smirking at how pretentious it all is.
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