Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend 8 8 09.jpg
Vampire Weekend at Lollapalooza in Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois, on August 9, 2009.
Background information
Origin New York City, New York, United States
Genres Indie rock
Years active 2006–present
Labels XL Recordings
Associated acts Dirty Projectors, Discovery, Ra Ra Riot, Underrated
Website www.vampireweekend.com
Members Ezra Koenig
Rostam Batmanglij
Chris Tomson
Chris Baio

Vampire Weekend is an American indie rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and signed to XL Recordings. The band released its first album Vampire Weekend in 2008, which produced the singles "Mansard Roof", "A-Punk", "Oxford Comma", and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa". The band's most recent album, Contra, was released in 2010.

Contents

History[edit]

Early days and debut album (2006-2008)[edit]

Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio, Rostam Batmanglij, and Chris Tomson formed the band on February 6th, 2006, when they were finishing up their studies at Columbia University. Vampire Weekend's name is derived from lead singer Ezra Koenig's amateur film of the same name. Koenig, Chris Tomson and Andrew Kalaidjian started the rap group [1] "L'Homme Run".[2] Vampire Weekend was signed to XL Recordings by Kris Chen, of which the band said in an interview: "Before any labels had contacted us, we actually mentioned XL as the kind of label we'd ideally like to end up on. Just going on their roster alone, they obviously have good taste and support their artists well."[3] They are managed by Ian Montone, who also manages The White Stripes.

The band gained attention via a variety of blogs, such as Stereogum.[4] The band claims they are influenced by both African popular music and Western classical music,[5] describing their genre of music as "Upper West Side Soweto", with such songs as "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" referencing Congolese soukous music.[6]

In 2007, Vampire Weekend's song "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" was ranked 67th on Rolling Stone's list of the '100 Best Songs of the Year'.[7] In November 2007, they toured the Netherlands with The Shins.[8] They were declared "The Year's Best New Band" by Spin magazine in the March 2008 issue, and were the first band to be shot for the cover of the magazine before releasing their debut album.[2] Four songs from the band's first album also made the Triple J Hottest 100, 2008.

The band's debut album Vampire Weekend was released January 29, 2008. It was a success in the US and UK, peaking at number 15 on the UK Albums Chart and number 17 on the Billboard 200. Four singles were released from the album; while "A-Punk" peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart and number 55 on the UK Singles Chart, "Oxford Comma" peaked at number 38 in the UK. "A-Punk" was ranked the 4th on Rolling Stone's list of Best Songs in 2008. "A- Punk" was also used to open the Will Ferrell/John C. Reilly feature Step Brothers, and featured in the UK television show, The Inbetweeners, and the video games Guitar Hero 5 and LEGO Rock Band. In 2008, Vampire Weekend was dubbed the "whitest band" by Christian Lander, the creator of the site Stuff White People Like, in an interview with Salon.com.[9] During the summer of 2008, Vampire Weekend performed at the Central Park SummerStage.

Contra (2009–present)[edit]

The band's second album, Contra, was released on January 11, 2010 in the UK and the following day in the US. On October 5, 2009, "Horchata" was released as a free download on the band's website.[10] The album's first single, "Cousins", was released on November 17, 2009. Initial copies of the CD and LP sold at independent records stores in the US include a 3-track bonus CD containing two "melts", which featured bits of album tracks and a remix. Contra was the band's first album to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200.[11]

On January 9, 2010 the band did an acoustic show for MTV Unplugged. The following month, the band toured Europe and UK with Canadian electro duo Fan Death as their support. The video for their next single "Giving Up the Gun" was also released on February 18, 2010 which included cameos from Joe Jonas, Lil Jon, RZA, Jake Gyllenhaal and Daft Punk.

On March 6, 2010 the band appeared as the musical guest of Saturday Night Live with comedian Zach Galifianakis as host. It is the second time the band has appeared as a musical guest on the show, the first being during the show's 33rd season in 2008 in an episode which actress Amy Adams hosted. They also played festivals across the USA such as Coachella, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits Music Festival, and All Points West, as well as the Groovin' The Moo festival in Australia.

On June 3, 2010 the band was interviewed by Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report. Colbert argued that the "Oxford Comma" was indeed important despite the band and Ezra's disagreement. The band also played their song "Holiday" from Contra. On June 5, the band played in Philadelphia, PA as part of the 3rd annual Roots Picnic, hosted by the band The Roots.

Their third single, "Holiday", was released on June 7, 2010. Another new song, "Jonathan Low", appeared on the soundtrack to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which was released on June 8.

On June 25, 2010, the band played the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival, in Pilton, Somerset, UK. The band were also on the main stage at T in the Park 2010 at Balado Kinross, Scotland, on June 8, and played the Oxegen Festival in Kildare, Ireland on July 9. They also headlined the Latitude Festival in Suffolk, UK on July 18. On 16th July the band headlined the Main Stage at the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim.

On July 30, 2010, the band played at Jisan Valley Rock Festival in South Korea along with Muse (band), Massive Attack, Pet Shop Boys, Corinne Bailey Rae and many others.

The band, along with their record company XL Recordings and photographer Tod Scott Brody, are being sued by Kirsten Kennis, the model on the cover of Contra, over the use of her image. [12].

Vampire Weekend just finished their 2010 North American tour with Beach House and Dum Dum Girls. The tour started off on August 27, 2010, in Vancouver, BC at the Malkin Bowl. Lead singer Ezra Koenig mentioned to the audience that before this concert, the band had the longest "vacation period" that they have had in a while. The band members were also in Vancouver for a second night, where they played a live debut of their cover of I'm Goin' Down by Bruce Springsteen.

Members[edit]

Discography[edit]

Studio albums[edit]

Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales threshold)
US
[13]
US Rock
[13]
US Indie
[13]
CAN
[13]
UK UK Indie SWE AUS IRE
2008 Vampire Weekend
  • First studio album
  • Release date: January 29, 2008
  • Label: XL Recordings
17 4 2  — 15 1 44 37 23
2010 Contra
  • Second studio album
  • Release date: January 11, 2010
  • Label: XL Recordings
1 1 1 1 3 1 14 2 4
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

EPs[edit]

Singles[edit]

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US US
Alt

[19]
US
Pop

[19]
BEL (FL)
[20]
UK
[21]
UK
Indie
2007 "Mansard Roof"  —  —  —  —  —  — Vampire Weekend
2008 "A-Punk" 106 25 91  — 55 1
"Oxford Comma"  —  —  —  — 38  —
"Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"  —  —  —  — 178 1
2009 "Horchata" 102  —  — 26  —  — Contra
"Cousins"  — 18  —  — 39 3
2010 "Giving Up the Gun"  — 34  — 65 172 8
"Holiday"  —  —  — 55 183 12
"White Sky"  —  —  — 97 78 6
"Run" To be released
"—" denotes releases that did not chart. The Billboard Pop 100 chart ceased to exist in 2009.

Compilation tracks[edit]

Vampire Weekend contributed a cover of "Exit Music (For a Film)" for Stereogum presents .. OKX: A Tribute to OK Computer (2007), a free tribute album celebrating 10 years of Radiohead's album OK Computer. They have also covered "Everywhere" by Fleetwood Mac, "I'm Goin' Down" by Bruce Springsteen, and "Ruby Soho" by Rancid.

The band also contributed the song "Ottoman" to the soundtrack to the 2008 film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Two tracks from their debut record also appeared in the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man. A new song, "Jonathan Low," was released on June 8, 2010, appearing on the soundtrack to the third installment of the Twilight Saga films, Eclipse.

Rostam Batmanglij has made a record with Wes Miles from Ra Ra Riot called Discovery. Vocalist Ezra Koenig was featured on "Carby" by Discovery and "Warm Heart of Africa" by The Very Best.

Music videos[edit]

Year Song Album Director
2007 "Mansard Roof" Vampire Weekend Alexis Boling
2008 "A-Punk" Garth Jennings
"Oxford Comma" Richard Ayoade
"Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
2009 "Cousins" Contra Garth Jennings
2010 "Giving Up the Gun" The Malloys
"Holiday"

References[edit]

  1. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hhXgsHrv7c&feature=channel/
  2. ^ a b Greenwald, Andy. "Vampire Weekend: The Graduates". Spin. February 25, 2008. Retrieved on June 28, 2009.
  3. ^ Coscarelli, Joseph. "Vampire Weekend: preppy punks?". The Deli. Retrieved on June 28, 2009.
  4. ^ "Band to Watch: Vampire Weekend". Stereogum. 2006-04-13. 
  5. ^ Lindsay, Cam."Vampire Weekend Welcome the Clichés", Exclaim!, February 2008.
  6. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa. "Preppie Afro-Pop and Other Odd Blends". The New York Times. June 18, 2007. Retrieved on June 28, 2009.
  7. ^ "The 100 best Songs of 2007". Rolling Stone. 2007-12-27. 
  8. ^ "Vampire Weekend To Tour With The Shins". Angryape. 2007-10-11. 
  9. ^ "The Unbearable Whiteness of Being". Salon.com. 2008-07-05. 
  10. ^ http://www.vampireweekend.com/
  11. ^ Caulfield, Keith (2010-01-20). "Vampire Weekend Lands First No. 1 Album". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-01-20. 
  12. ^ Wall Street Journal http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/07/20/the-vampire-weekend-suit-much-ado-about-an-old-photo/
  13. ^ a b c d "Vampire Weekend: Charts & Awards - Billboard Albums". All Music Guide. Retrieved on June 1, 2010.
  14. ^ [1]
  15. ^ [2]
  16. ^ [3]
  17. ^ http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx British Phonographic Industry
  18. ^ [4]
  19. ^ a b "Vampire Weekend: Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles". All Music Guide. Retrieved on June 1, 2010.
  20. ^ ultratop.be - Discografie Vampire Weekend
  21. ^ "Vampire Weekend: UK Chart Positions". The Official Chart Company. Retrieved on June 1, 2010.


External links[edit]