@Jasonbob7: Jack Johnson was actually the first frame of reference I thought of, too. That same sort of privileged-comfort vibe, perfect for drinking Corona Lights and wearing terrible clothing. (I don’t think it’s wrong to fault us for hating VW’s aesthetics since they so proudly celebrate them. So deriding the preppiness is fair game IMO.)

I’m preparing my letter to Led Zepplin right now.

Also, they’re getting by in New York like it aint no thang and they come off as rather smug about it. I’d be surprised if they could even tell you how much their own rent costs.

It’s also interesting that you bring up The National, especially since I’d posit them as a better antithesis to VW than THS. (Who happened to be on at the moment, but are a separate arguement.) I find The National electrifying because they don’t feel safe or static. If anything, they bring me into confrontations with some of my worst fears about myself as a human being. There’s a shiver of recognition there that I’ve found in maybe a half-dozen other records since I first started taking music seriously. They evoke moments that fucking ache like real life. On a formal level, I love the arrangements (More restrained than a lot of what I usually like, but excellent for their economy of motion.) and I think that the lyrics are masterful in their use of repetition and detail. VW sing about a world I only know third hand as if it’s wallpaper. Witless irony and self-satisfied in jokes win for their own sake. There’s no impetus to transcend the formal imperatives of the pop song, let along to transcend the next crest of the hype cycle.

I mean no disrespect to Cold War Kids, National, or the Shins. I like them all. I just see them as ultimately being closer to the norm than VW.

And leave Cold War Kids out of this. They’re much more ambitious than VW, and they’re much nicer to boot.

“And blog-era tastemakers often eat their own after the shine’s worn off, no?”

Umm…maybe? If they start sucking I guess. I don’t necessarily buy into this mythic direction of the blogosphere, or at least not the alleged unified voice it speaks when taste-making. (Partly because I don’t count blogs that rehash other blogs or post the hypem top 20 artists with such insightful commentary like – “I totally love this!”)

Similar to the opinions some have about the MSM being controlled by an editorial cabal, my hand is forced in calling bullshit!

Also @Gregcoff: VW *sounds* like privilege, that’s why the assumption that the music is coming from a place of privilege. Radio-friendly upbeat, energetic pop and fun, but witness the danger of blog-era hype, such that even sorta supporters such as myself react to inflated claims and pretentions.