Vampire Weekend
by Vampire Weekend
  • Record Label: XL
  • Release Date: Jan 29, 2008
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 321 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 288 out of 321
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 321
  3. Negative: 14 out of 321

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  1. ZacharyMatson
    Jul 22, 2011
    10
    It's rare to find an album as perfect as this. Vampire Weekend has such a unique sound and flavor if you will that it makes it impossible not to love. A very impressive start to a very impressive new band.
  2. AaaronS.
    May 10, 2008
    3
    A music blogger sensation earlier this year. Highly overrated pop record that I chalk up to 'I don't get it'.
  3. J.Holiday
    Jan 30, 2008
    3
    Another one from the hype machine. Unimpressive.
  4. KeithG
    Apr 25, 2012
    8
    A truly interesting album. Vampire Weekend introduces unfamiliar instruments and world sounds to an American audience, but still manages to the stay within the idiom of western rock. A worthwhile listen from beginning to end.
  5. GHopp8
    Oct 7, 2013
    10
    A perfect album trough and through. The self-titled album is one of the most refreshing pieces in modern music. Arcade Fire has almost seemingly invented a style of music than can be defined as the "Vampire Weekend Style." A perfect album, no song is a let down, it's pure fun that makes one envision themselves in Cape Cod.
  6. tizriz
    Feb 7, 2008
    4
    Cheesy college pop pooh, nothing too original besides some crafty percussion to enhance what otherwise sounds like something you may hear at a high school talent show. Like a cover version of the police meeting a sufjan Stevens fan and making a disc over the weekend in their garage....I don't get the hype.
  7. AlonsoM.
    Mar 19, 2008
    2
    If the Pet Shop Boys reunited and recorded an album without rehearsing after they split up, this is what it would sound like. The rich white guy steals black guy's music thing worked for Elvis but that was 50 years ago and white people need to steal somebody else's music.
  8. HillaryC.
    Mar 3, 2008
    4
    Bill and I love this album... except for the afro influences.
  9. JayM.
    Jan 29, 2008
    3
    Rstricted by its need to remain uncomplicated, ok- if you like twee pop with some badly recorded drums.
  10. GregC.
    Feb 9, 2008
    4
    The critics have claimed they are their new darlings. The new Strokes they say. What creative Afro-pop they say. Afro-junk played by silly white kids. Painful to listen to really. I've never been in a fight but I want to fight these guys already. Enough with the bright sweaters, collared shirts, and dreamy days at sea.
  11. DuaneJ.
    Mar 15, 2008
    2
    Either I'm getting old or my ears are getting bad. Heard about them and decide to watch them on SNL-not good. He can't sing and the music was fair.
  12. MikeR
    Apr 14, 2008
    3
    As their name suggests, they definitely suck.
  13. IsaacR.
    Apr 27, 2008
    1
    Kinda stuck up in how highly it thinks of itself, just like the band.
  14. Ericd.
    May 30, 2008
    4
    *sniff* *sniff*....is that dookie i smell?
  15. j30
    Jan 30, 2012
    7
    Vampire Weekends solid self-titled debut mixes clever lyrics, interesting pop melodies, and just average instrumentals.
  16. GuillaumePop
    Feb 2, 2008
    6
    I don't understand all this critics, it's just a good album, nothing more!
  17. DavidO.
    Mar 10, 2008
    10
    Fantastic. But then again, I'm a sucker for funky, slightly different pop, and that's exactly what this is.
  18. MM.
    Mar 1, 2008
    10
    One of the early front runners. Superb musicianship and songwriting. Just an outstanding debut.
  19. ChadS.
    Jan 30, 2008
    10
    Is Vampire Weekend this generation's Talking Heads? Maybe this is their "77". The songs have the same minimalist approach to arrangement, and more importantly, the lyrics are artfully mundane like David Byrne's "Don't Worry 'Bout the Government". "M79" is amazing. It's suggestive of the Electric Light Orchestra dipping into Afro-pop. The other standout is "I Stand Is Vampire Weekend this generation's Talking Heads? Maybe this is their "77". The songs have the same minimalist approach to arrangement, and more importantly, the lyrics are artfully mundane like David Byrne's "Don't Worry 'Bout the Government". "M79" is amazing. It's suggestive of the Electric Light Orchestra dipping into Afro-pop. The other standout is "I Stand Corrected". I like how the chorus sneaks up on you with its catchiness. It sort of follows the quiet/loud formula of Nirvana and The Pixies. "I Stand Corrected" starts off like a Low song and then they turn into Bloc Party, or Matt Pond PA, if Matt Pond PA weren't into Toad the Wet Sprocket. Every song on this eponymous debut is a keeper, with the possible exception of "Bryn". Will Vampire Weekend keep this stripped down approach, or will they open up their sound. Do they have a "Remain in Light" in them? This ain't no shanty town; this ain't no Johannesberg; this ain't no fooling around. This is Cape Cod. Fear them. "Vampire Weekend" makes indie-rock music fun again. We needed this album.… Expand
  20. AlexB
    Feb 2, 2008
    9
    A fun, poppy indie release with many idiosyncratic flourishes, in the same vein as Spoon. Very good!
  21. [Anonymous]
    Mar 5, 2008
    10
    Very catch album that I don't get tired of listening to!
  22. GregH.
    Mar 6, 2008
    9
    Very enjoyable album. Like most releases that come with lots of indie hype, I was quite skeptical about this album but it's actually quite good. Solid songs, good execution...just a fun record. Every time it's over, I just want to start again from the beginning.
  23. JimmyT.
    Mar 8, 2008
    6
    one fantastic track doesn't make a good album.
  24. CrystalS.
    May 19, 2008
    10
    I don't think this album is overrated like some of the reviewers. I think its one of the best of the year and deserves the praise it has gotten. I can listen to the whole album through without skipping a song and each song sounds different than the next. M79 is one of the most original songs I have heard in years, and a-punk is the kind of catchy song you can listen to on repeat for days.
  25. JonathanS.
    Feb 8, 2009
    10
    This is the most original album I have ever heard in my life! This is a must get for any cool kids out there. Imagine living in an house, looking over the beach, beautiful blue sky and crystal blue water. You have a metal spiral staircase and hard wood floors. You have amazing floor-ceiling glass windows overlooking the wispy sand of the East Coast. You have a golden retriever curled up This is the most original album I have ever heard in my life! This is a must get for any cool kids out there. Imagine living in an house, looking over the beach, beautiful blue sky and crystal blue water. You have a metal spiral staircase and hard wood floors. You have amazing floor-ceiling glass windows overlooking the wispy sand of the East Coast. You have a golden retriever curled up on your white carpet, near the flat panel hung on the wall and the modern simple den. It is a studio apartment, one would say its a dream. As you walk through the studio, from the white simple den to the porch level with the sandy ground, you hear a sound so wonderful it complements the apartment, white and modern. Thats Vampire Weekend.… Expand
  26. JustinM.
    Feb 1, 2008
    10
    Can an album be more likeable? It's so PLEASING in so many ways. Great new sound, with throwbacks to early Police albums and believe it or not, Paul Simon's Graceland. Great energy and airy open beats and tones. Love it.
  27. IlyaR
    Feb 2, 2008
    10
    It's no accident that about 3/4 of these reviews reference The Strokes. Not since "Is This It" have I heard an album where each and every one of its 11 songs are so complete, so precise, so innovative, and so melodically full. The richness of synth-string arrangements and shitfy drum-work on songs like "M79" and "Walcott" is invigorating. And the rolling guitars and addicting riffs It's no accident that about 3/4 of these reviews reference The Strokes. Not since "Is This It" have I heard an album where each and every one of its 11 songs are so complete, so precise, so innovative, and so melodically full. The richness of synth-string arrangements and shitfy drum-work on songs like "M79" and "Walcott" is invigorating. And the rolling guitars and addicting riffs sparsed throughout the album (like at the end of "Campus") have enough Strokes reverberation to warrant the New York Music Gods mantle. Of course it's ultimately the lyrics that put these guys over the top, with songs that are both mind-bendingly clever ("Oxford Comma") and tenderly evocative ("I Stand Corrected"). This is, simply, like nothing else out there, and, despite all the hype, the impact these guys will have on music is still painfully underestimated. Perfect album.… Expand
  28. DavidY.
    Feb 29, 2008
    3
    I played the opening lick to "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" at a party the other night and everyone thought it was Paul Simon's "Graceland." There is NO God.
  29. RyanS.
    Feb 3, 2008
    9
    First time I heard these guys (their cover of Radiohead's "Exit Music (For a Film)"), I loved them. First time I heard "Mansard Roof", I promptly reversed course. It took a few listens, for sure, but the songs are truly fantastic and grow on you. And I would say that this kind of music is about the sounds rather than the lyrics; discounting their strengths on the backs of unimportant First time I heard these guys (their cover of Radiohead's "Exit Music (For a Film)"), I loved them. First time I heard "Mansard Roof", I promptly reversed course. It took a few listens, for sure, but the songs are truly fantastic and grow on you. And I would say that this kind of music is about the sounds rather than the lyrics; discounting their strengths on the backs of unimportant weaknesses is a poor strategy.… Expand
  30. RuiT.
    Feb 6, 2008
    10
    Three words to this album: Top! Top! Top! Indie-pop-rock-funk-african-classical music! Life is Sun! Life is Fun! Life is Vampire Weekend...when we are Young!
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Awards & Rankings

48
#48 Best Album of 2008
14
#14 Most Discussed Album of 2008
7
#7 Most Shared Album of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
82

Universal acclaim - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 38
  3. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. AllMusic
    90
    Fully realized debut albums like Vampire Weekend come along once in a great while, and these songs show that this band is smart, but not too smart for their own good.
    Read full review
  2. Billboard
    80
    Listeners are only too lucky to get a hot breath of summer fun in these cold winter months.
    Read full review
  3. Boston Globe
    80
    At its best, Vampire Weekend takes the exceedingly familiar template of indie rock and invigorates it with a chiming guitar sound that suggests the band has been spending its downtime browsing afropop.org.
    Read full review
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