Yes, queen! New music from Vampire Weekend! What a lovely and welcome surprise. It’s been six years since the band’s last album, Modern Vampires of the City, which topped my list of the best albums of 2013. That’s a friggin’ lifetime.
Last week the band dropped two tracks from their upcoming album, Father of the Bride. Both are unmistakably Vampire Weekend, which is a relief given the departure of key member Rostam Batmanglij.
It’s been six years since Vampire Weekend’s last album, the extraordinary Modern Vampires of the City.
Lots has happened since then, including the departure of key band member Rostam Batmanglij and a relationship between frontman Ezra Koenig and one of my celebrity girlfriends, Rashida Jones, which resulted in the birth of their first child last summer.
Kicking off Week Five of the 30 Day Music Challenge, our task is to name ‘A Favorite Song With a Person’s Name in the Title.’
This challenge made me laugh, because it reminded me of my wife’s irrational aversion to songs written about (and titled after) specific women. Hall & Oates’ ‘Sara Smile,’ for example, which also makes her shit list for the opening line “baby hair, with a woman’s eyes.” What the hell does baby hair look like on a grown woman?
Two innovative indie bands face off today in Round Two of Montauk Madness.
Vampire Weekend got here by defeating Pink Floyd with 70% of the vote. Ben Folds Five had a slightly harder path, taking down Aimee Mann with 60%. I voted for Vampire Weekend and against Ben Folds Five in the first round, but would have reversed those votes had they switched their opponents. Continue reading
Our next Montauk Madness matchup is a battle across the decades, pitting a 70s powerhouse against an innovative indie band from the past decade. I give you Pink Floyd vs. Vampire Weekend!
My high school self would have had no problem with this choice, as I pretty much lived and breathed Pink Floyd in those years (not to mention that Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig was in pre-K).
Meet Me In Montauk 