Loading ...This weekend, Vampire Weekend cemented their superstar status, joining the ranks of such timeless acts as 3-D, the Tragically Hip, the Bus Boys, Timbuk3, and the Hothouse Flowers as musical guests on Saturday Night Live! There’s been a lot of talk about whether these guys are really Columbia douchebags or just playing up an image of Columbia douchebags and while there’ve been some salient points about the precarious position of class and race, we… wait a minute, what the fuck is that guy wearing? Really? A scarf the size of a tent? Indoors? He looks like Stuart Little after he curls up for a nap inside a shirt sleeve.
This weekend, Vampire Weekend cemented their superstar status, joining the ranks of such timeless acts as 3-D, the Tragically Hip, the Bus Boys, Timbuk3, and the Hothouse Flowers as musical guests on Saturday Night Live! There’s been a lot of talk about whether these guys are really Columbia douchebags or just playing up an image of Columbia douchebags and while there’ve been some salient points about the precarious position of class and race, we… wait a minute, what the fuck is that guy wearing? Really? A scarf the size of a tent? Indoors? He looks like Stuart Little after he curls up for a nap inside a shirt sleeve.
Well, to be totally honest, this guy is smarter, better-looking, richer, more successful and more fun than I’ll ever be. So maybe this is what well-educated, skinny, popular kids wear when they’re somehow fooling the world that they deserve to be much more than our generation’s Camper Van Beethoven. But something doesn’t sit right with me. I’d ask one of my friends that go to Columbia, but if I had a ton of friends who went to Columbia, I probably wouldn’t be trying to pay my rent by writing 400-word blurbs on Hydra Head bands. I feel lost, confused,,,,,,,[sic--that's how little I care about an Oxford comma] and really old.
Seriously, do people wear this shit? Is there some uptown hipster keffiyeh community I’ve somehow missed? Is this some kind of Seinfeld-ian puffy shirt fiasco? Or is he trying to protect his neck from real vampires?!
the times already beat you to this schtick
you mean “blogging?”
These guys sound like fucking Raffi!
yes, that is exactly what i meant, you’re even more clever than i thought. i look forward to an entire day of italics, quotation marks and senifeld mentions.
keep it independent!
holy crap is this band boring.
even the flavor of the month has no flavor anymore.
Vampire Weekend will not be our generation’s CvB, because the Campers were from California, and were interesting.
@harumph: well given the current state of
indie-slanted pop muic, it’s either this slice of melba toast or some
cup of milky tea to choose from… yawn.
@spazandmojo: i think i will choose a cup of hemlock first.
@relaxing: i thought they were from richmond virginia.
I sincerely don’t understand the level of bile being heaped on these guys. The album is “meh,” but both the singles above are sweet enough little pop trifles. At the risk of succumbing to Godwin’s Law, it seems as though that’s somehow been equated to them trying to pour audio holocaust into the ears of the public.
I know you all had your indie hearts broken by the Shins and Coldplay, but white guys making lighter than air pop songs != evil.
i heard ‘oxford comma’ in a restaurant last night, and is it just me, or is that song a super-airer take on tom petty’s ‘don’t do me like that’?
Do not fuck with the BusBoys.
That’s a scarf? I thought he was Amish.
@Halfwit: actually, some of us just crave
for more interesting shit, less hype-o-rama and more substance. i
understand this is becoming a very tall order these days, but that in
and of itself is sad.
and for the record, shins and coldplay… really? never liked ‘em, never will.
They look like every indie kid I see at every indie show doing every indie dance move. I don’t mind them. And whether or not their songs are good, I think you’d have to admit they performed pretty well on SNL. Oh wait, we’re more worried about the tent scarf, yes?
My bad.
Yeah man! Stick it to Vampire Weekend’s…scarf? Couldn’t make the cultural imperialism takedown stick, so now we’re on to neckwear.
@Halfwit: i agree with spazandmojo here. people should produce whatever mediocrity their heart guides them toward. it is just that when a band like this is hailed as some sort of second coming when 3 months ago they were virtually invisible, it raises the question as to whether or not all that hype is justified. i am finding an almost complete lack of substance, even in the most far-out reaches of independent music lately. so, my heart isn’t so much broken as it is bewildered at what passes for exciting or original these days.
OMG, maybe someone will buy our giant scarves now. Uh, thanks, Vampire Weekend! (?!?!)
I am completely and utterly convinced that ever since these fellas have joined the big leagues [and by big leagues I mean releasing an album and appearing on SNL, Letterman, and the like] it seems that nobody, repeat NOBODY has anything nice to say about them.
You forgot to mention that Times Style Magazine’s “How To Dress Like Vampire Weekend” feature they just ran, and no, I am not making this shit up.
…or Ben Sisario’s informative expose, “All Hail Brooklyn: Alt-Rock Thrives in Alt-Borough” that just ran in the Music section.
I think being “tired of hating Vampire Weekend” is the new “Liking Vampire Weekend.”
@Catbirdseat: Dude, I was so about to forward that to the tip box. I think it was more bizzare that they also included “How to dress like Beriut & that dude from Deerhoof” as well.
[www.nytimes.com]
Er, Deerhunter I mean. Duh.
@Catbirdseat: Seriously, the hype is beyond deafening at this point.
I liked this music the first time around when it was called “Ska”. idiots.
This was great music when it was called Ska.
oh, sorry double post.
Because we prefer our indie rockers dirty, scruffy, in vintage tees, donning ripped jeans, neon belts, ratty chucks and with heads permanently (and always sadly) in a downward gaze?
BLEH I say!
Going preppy is punk rock if you think about it.
Going to see them tonight, will report on the scarf issue.
@harumph: @spazandmojo: Totally legitimate, and I won’t even argue with it. They’re pleasant enough, but they’re not doing anything noteworthy and will disappear once Natalie Portman or Scarlett Johanses or whoever passes on their second album.
Still, though, I can almost see the flecks of spittle flying from the mouths of some people when they talk about these bands. Going into mindless rages about “the proles” latching onto a safe version of your preferred genre just smacks of old… whether it’s the Monkees, Candlebox, Flo Rida, or these poor little rich boys.
Okay……so everyone’s ire isn’t directed at the band but rather the media for overhyping them? If hype annoys you so much, stop reading music blogs. Vampire Weekend are just a group of guys who formed a band and made a record. Should they be managing their persona a bit better? Maybe. But maybe they know that this could be it for them, so why not enjoy it? Law school (or whatever) will be waiting when this is over.
@SuperUnison: I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.
@Halfwit: that anger and frustration come from years and years of seeing the most interesting bands toil away in obscurity while their third and fourth generation imitators water it down and are hailed as messiahs. or as sam mcpheeters put it, lenny bruce had to die so that dana carvey could live.
@disinterested 3rd party: so music blogs should center around hype and not music? that is a bit backward.
i think a serious discussion objecting to the influence of hype in music is more valid than a million puff pieces on what vampire weekend wears.
Not only did I enjoy their performance but I also thought the outfits were rather cute. Hype only annoys me when it means that you hear the songs everywhere, such as the hype when it comes to Paramore, but even then my interest is not affected.
Okay……so everyone’s ire isn’t directed at the band but rather the media for overhyping them?
@disinterested 3rd party: No, it’s definitely directed at the band.
I really hoped this post would turn into one of the blind item posts, where everybody names other laughably minor musical guests from SNL.
THE SPANIC BOYS!!!
*spikes wireless mouse, does a touchdown dance*
This is like, the worst day in music journalism ever.
@Halfwit: no mindless rage here, just boredom. how can you possibly be enraged by wonder bread?
Reminds me of a joke:
“Knock Knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“Vampire Weekend.”
“BLEAAAAARGGGGH MOTHER FUCKING VAMPIRE WEEKEND FUCKING BLOGS AND HYPE FUCK YOU FUCKING SNL AND STARBUCKS AND FUCKING HYPE MONGERING AND FUCK FUCK FUCK YOU FUCKING WILLIAMSBURG FUCK FUCKING PREP SCHOOL FUCKING RICH BOYS MOTHER FUCKERS FUCKING BLAND FUCKING WHITEBREAD FUCKING PREP FUCKING FUCKED UP COLUMBIA FUCK BOYS FUCKITTY FUCK OVERHYPED MOTHERFUCKING STARBUCKS FUCKING FUCKING VAMPIRE WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!! YAAAARRRRGGH!!!!!!”
I have just now heard this band for the first time and I can’t believe anyone would pay money for this crap, much less give it a slot on SNL. And they’re all dressed like such douches!
@Catbirdseat: i hadn’t heard that one yet.
I didn’t know that Chevy Chase had kids.
I guess no one here has actually been inside Studio 8H before, as it’s colder than a motherfucker, and literally floats suspended in air. Scary! I would have worn three scarves, two pairs of cherry red legwarmers, and a miner’s helmet. I dug the violist doing the staredown with the lead siger, though.
P.S. Did anyone else notice how the band’s CD shot up to number 5 on the iTunes albums chart the morning after SNL? Or am I the only one who pays attention to that little music store on his iTunes media player?
@EddieRebel: Should they have any other massive scarf needs, pls. direct them to our site. (;
is it necessary to hate them for doing something they like and being successful at it?
and hating them for dressing like preppy parodies is beyond unecessary. seriously, they’re not bad, so what’s the huge problem?
@harumph: I guess that’s what I’m trying to say. People seem to object to their omnipresence more than their music. If you don’t want to encounter them, lay off the blogs for a while. It will pass. I also know that a lot of people object to their music too but I don’t really. I just don’t find inoffensiveness as offensive as some do.
As an old guy I can say, “Vampire Who?” and sort of mean it. If one, by and large, has little interest in any hype, and this is a mere blip. First album? Meh. Give me a band on their 3rd album and we’ll see if they have legs.
But, yeah, the scarf isn’t doing them any favors. And twee was never my thing.
I know them and the pianist (Rostam) is a huge douche. Wears that kinda clothing all the time.
The boat shoes are mostly a joke though, they’re pretty chill guys (at least the ones in the band I know/my friends know).