About Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend is an American indie rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and signed to XL Recordings. The band gained attention via a variety of blogs, such as Stereogum. The band claims to be influenced by both African popular music and Western classical music, describing their genre of music as "Upper West Side Soweto", with such songs as "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" referencing Congolese soukous music.
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. In November 2007, they toured the United Kingdom with The Shins. 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. Four songs from the bands first album also made the 2008 Triple J's Hottest 100.
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 best song in 2008 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. The song is also featured in the hit UK television show, The Inbetweeners. It is also featured in the video game LEGO Rock Band, being able to be sent out for use in Rock Band 1, Rock Band 2, and Rock Band 3. 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. During the summer of 2008, Vampire Weekend performed at the Central Park SummerStage in Manhattan and a fundraiser for Music for Democracy in October, where they shared the stage with David Crosby and Graham Nash. In December 2008, Vampire Weekend's debut album was #2 in Under The Radar magazine's "top 50 albums of 2008" issue. In the January 2009 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, their self-titled album was dubbed the 10th best album of 2008. Their song "Ottoman" was used during the credits of 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.
The band's debut album also came 42nd on NME's 'Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade' list. 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. 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.
