Vampire Weekend — Vampire Weekend

With African, pop, classical and punk influences in tow, Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut is something to get excited about. The first great album of the year sounds like a Wes Anderson soundtrack meeting a Sofia Coppola soundtrack. Or maybe Paul Simon meets The Clash meets The Coral. Confused? Don't be! They loveably create a thrilling new sound via swirling strings, warm guitar hooks, chants, cheers and the charming vocals and clever poetics of singer/guitarist Ezra Koenig. The band met while studying at Columbia University, which explains the playful college life lyrics and stories scattered throughout, but one of the great things about this record (coming from a band that only began playing together in the spring of 2006) is that it's not pretentious. Though their influences are obvious, Vampire Weekend aren't trying to recreate anything and because of that, they come out sounding like something you've never heard before. Hear them now before they get annoyingly popular.

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