Vampire Weekend are hot property at the moment. Any serious music publication is talking about them – but who are they and are they any good? This guide will tell you (mostly) everything you need to know about the band, who are not real vampires by the way. Shame, because that would be a great gimmick…

OK, who are they?

Vampire Weekend are an interesting proposition. All the intelligence we can gather promptly points out that the foursome formed at Columbia, an Ivy League university. So these kids aren’t dumbasses, right?

And while their MySpace page describes their musical style as Punk/New Wave/Classical, they are unique among their peers by citing African pop music as a major influence in their sound. Another word freely thrown around in celebration of Vampire Weekend is ‘preppy’. Not hard to see why – the up-tempo tunes and clean, crisp guitar comps are an interesting combination.

Another unique factor in their sound is the inclusion of classical and ethnic instruments – the songs are embellished with cello and flute and African percussion in places.

The band have only been together since 2006, and to date have released only one album, the eponymous Vampire Weekend.

Vampire Weekend Line-up

The members of the band are:

• Ezra Koenig (lead vocals, guitar)
• Rostam Batmanglij (keyboard, guitar, vocals)
• Chris Tomson (drums)
• Chris Baio (bass guitar )

The band got their name from a movie they made with the members of another band, Ra Ra Riot. Apparently their song Walcott tells the story of the movie.

Want To Hear Some Songs?

OK, you want to hear some VW tunes? Let’s start with A-Punk, a short 2:20 tune that’ll give you an idea of Vampire Weekend’s sound.

Here’s a live performance of Oxford Comma – watch out for them there expletives…

You can find more live performances by searching YouTube and other great Internet video stockists.

More Vampire Weekend Links Than You Can Shake A Stick At

…well, just the important ones…

• Official Vampire Weekend website
• Vampire Weekend MySpace page
• Fake DIY’s interview with Rostam Batmanglij.
• Another Vampire Weekend interview at Deli Magazine.