It’s new feature time on Stereokill.net! Welcome to the inaugural Great Debate. The idea is simple: two Stereokill writers select an artist/band/album they disagree vehemently on. Then, armed only with our keyboards and razor-sharp wit, we battle it out to convince you (not) to listen to the artist/band/album in question. Essentially, it’s a musical Room 101.
First in the firing-line: New York indie-hipsters Vampire Weekend. Arguing in favour of VW’s continued existence, your very own Marcus Kernohan, and for the cons, first-time contributor Alex Kelly of indie-kid rantspace Teenage Misanthropy. Let battle commence!
MK: “Who gives a fuck about the Oxford comma?” With that lyric, Vampire Weekend won my approval, because they said what about 60% of right-minded people on this planet were thinking. While saying this may seem counter-intuitive to everything that Stereokill stands for, sometimes you just need music that doesn’t try to be intense or meaningful. When a thousand commuters are pushing me around for 90 minutes every morning, I need music with just a touch of the fantastic. Call it escapism, but it helps pass the time.
The self-titled debut is just 35 minutes of well-executed pop music. It’s no Highway 61, but it’s interesting to listen to, technically competent, and genuinely amusing at times. I think they’re aware that they’re never going to be banner-men for the new revolution. So they content themselves with not trying to be. It’s just catchy, original pop music, that doesn’t ask you to take it seriously. All it wants is for you to enjoy it. They take the odd weird turn, but at least they don’t sound like anyone else, and that’s good enough for me.
AK: I hate Vampire Weekend, and you should too. In fairness, a miserable bastard like me was never going to like upbeat, cheery music; but my distaste is not illogical, and it’s got as much to do with their general attitude as anything else. Vampire Weekend are emblematic of a culture that absorbs anything remotely interesting or different (take the soukous imitation on Oxford Comma as an example), defangs and homogenises it, and repackages it in bland, clean-cut ‘indie’.
The members of Vampire Weekend are, to borrow a Dead Kennedys line, terminal preppies – this is bad enough on its own, but the smirking references to Lil’ Jon remind me only of a rapidly aging politican trying to act like he’s ‘down with the kids’. Their songs aren’t about anything. Granted, I don’t feel that all songs have to be, but really it’s just one more thing that exacerbates my hatred – full of inoffensive, over-cheery sound and absolutely no fury, signifying nothing. They make the kind of music that ticks corporate boxes, and as such it’s ubiquitous. They are Paul Simon without the talent. And as if that wasn’t enough, Pitchfork Media love them to pieces. If that isn’t a reason to hate a band, I don’t know what is.
So, there we have it. The defence rests, and the prosecution has no further questions. Now it’s time for your thoughts… There’s a forum topic here, or you can vote in the comments. Let us know what you think!
Marcus Kernohan is the founding editor of Stereokill. 
Unfortunately Vampire Weekend have had the misfortune of fortune in the way that media and desperate onlookers have grasped at the identity that is associated with VW, to somehow qualify their desperate attempts at attaching themselves to an indie ’scene’. It got to the stage that if you didn’t really know who they were others would think you have no clue what good music was.
I don’t think (the importance of ‘I think’ so may not be every-ones opinion’) VW don’t pander to the audience of leeches but have achieved an up beat solid album which granted will not be remembered in the canon of great works (but when Oasis are regular attendee’s to such western patriarchal debockals, is that such a bad thing?) but in my mind an interesting, somewhat accidentally, original style.
At some point VW would have been a small band with a small group of ‘real’ fans, but by some managerial magic where tossed into the greater public and as always with the ‘tipping point’ comes a question of whether the success and admiration is justified.
The answer is probably, to some anyway. I really liked them the first time I heard ‘Walcott’, but the album didn’t hold enough goodies for me to listen to it over and over again.
Not everyone is going to like them, granted. But I can think of worse bands that are thrown at us as from all angles as if Jesus had come back and somehow we missed the message.
So I’m a thumbs partially up…
Check your definition of ‘indie’. They self produced their first album and it got them a ton of recognition. That means the music is the real deal.
Not only does Vampire Weekend’s Contra weeve through a myriad of genres it does so with a more than just a hint of confidence. The album is constructed as if it were daringly precise or just done by some refined musicians. At any rate it mirrors form with style; reminding me of Can, Devotchka, and even Paul Simon’s Graceland, which if african derived. At any rate it is like nothing I know to date. Good work guys.