Paul Nair: Who's Afraid Of Vampires?

So with a new year comes the latest "it" band here in New York City, and this time around it's Vampire Weekend , a quartet of Columbia alums whose otherwise straightforward indie-pop comes heavily infused with Afro-Pop guitar licks and ethnic rhythms. This unusual accoutrement has resulted in a higher-than-usual amount of praise from bloggers and mainstream critics alike, with lots of talk about their "refreshing" sound and lots of eyebrow raising over their anti-hipster appearance. Well, I've listened to the album a dozen times or so. It certainly separates itself from the rest of the pack, and at times it's almost infuriatingly catchy (take the single "A-Punk" for example). It doesn't blow me away though, not by a long shot. Perhaps it's that I grew up listening to Afro-Pop Worldwide on public radio or maybe it's because I'm just one of the millions who've heard Paul Simon's Graceland . There aren't too many surprises here. It also doesn't help that Vampire Weekend aptly provide music ... (link)