I’m aware that this is extremely late coming – it got stuck in my drafts folder unnoticed – but here it is anyways. My thoughts on the newest effort from Vampire Weekend. After reading the feature article the New Yorker ran about Vampire Weekend a few weeks ago titled School of Rock, I was left with a lot of questions. Apparently Vampire Weekend is and has always been influenced by African music, IE Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa – Kwassa Kwassa being a dance rhythm from the republic of Congo – and the article followed this theme while detailing the band’s career. My honest and admittedly uninformed impression before reading this was…really??

From Contra, the song Diplomat’s Son marks the very first track that actually made me sit up and take notice of some Pan-African influence in their music. It’s a very relaxed song with a undeniably reggae beat. But I take some issue with those who would define the band by praising their novel mix of African beats in an indie rock context. The New Yorker article also talks about the tension that arises from the incongruity between their extreme “preppy” image and their choice in world beats. I think is probably where my – and the rest of the critics – skepticism about the band’s authenticity is rooted. I don’t doubt that their degrees from Columbia University taught them a thing or two about world cultures, but I don’t hear a strong commitment to this aesthetic in their music.

Update: I’d like to thank everyone for their insightful emails and comments and gently remind people that I hardly ever write about music on this blog that I don’t like. This review wasn’t meant to come off as negative, just to put the criticism I read about in the New Yorker out there in the context of the new album.

Vampire Weekend – Diplomat’s Son removed by request