YYY 1/2 A Good Album
It is a lot harder to write something about a new band because they have not had the chance to become part of our collective lives yet. Vampire Weekend is so brand new they still have that new band smell. Being the latest “buzz band” to emerge out of the world of blogs and My Space I bought this album on a recommendation from a friend without even hearing it. I was expecting to hear some new new wave type band like the Artic Monkeys, but they were not like that at all. If they were not from New York I would have labeled them as lo-fi indie brit pop. Their music is very sparse with each instrument very distinguishable. Their songs are catchy and quirky; lightly accented with West African influences as only a band from New York or London could pull off. A few songs even sound like they took English Beat bass lines and wrote a new song around it. They have a Shins like feel in the vocals, but without the production; and a rawness much like the Cure’s Boy’s Don’t Cry, but only in the way that both albums feel like they were recorded in a basement. Although, I think I have to credit Poofygoo for the best description on the band; they are “not unlike the hybrid cars – brand spanking new, chock full of great ideas and innovation, but wholly unready for the glut of consumer demand” (thanks Goo!). They have created a good album and sound, and they are a band that has had a stellar beginning, but I think they need a bit more time in oven before they are ready to serve.
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