Vampire Weekend = Punk Rock?

This is really frustrating.

Not to dig up this horse, but it’s starting to feel like the Vampire Weekend apologists are drinking too much Kool-Aid. Listen, I’ll be the first to admit it: they’re writing catchy tunes, and they’re working really hard. Congratulations, guys. Enjoy your success.

That being said, if you’re going to try to spin their unoriginality into something cool, why punk rock? And why not just let them continue with their shtick without forcing another label on them? They don’t want to be punk rock any more than they want to be Lower East Side. Actually, for them, punk rock is probably something more akin to New Jersey.

If punk rock is defined by how it pushes boundaries, gets people out of their comfort zone, and inspires new ways of thinking, then there’s few bands that have done so of late to the same extent as Vampire Weekend.

What boundaries are we really pushing here? They force people to accept their polo shirts and Graceland-influenced “Afropop”? If they were doing something at all original, I could see it, but they’re really not, and that’s the point.

And that isn’t even a bad thing. It’s hard to be original. Also, they’ve created their own marketing movement and they’ve been successful with it, who am I to judge? Everyone does it. In this case, I think that the backlash based on the way they dress and where they’re from (the Prefix article discusses these sidebars almost exclusively, as though the music’s derivative nature and overblown praise has nothing to do with the backlash) is just as shallow and meaningless as “Oxford Comma.” Who cares what they wear?

Self-conscious indie rock fans who feel some tinge of guilt about liking something so centered around class and privilege, that’s who. Folks who grew up listening to dirty pop sung by dirty dudes and have some sort of vague and difficult to identify problem with kids that unapologetically sing about a life they’re supposed to reject.

If you’re bitching about the clothes, you’re missing the point. If you’re bitching about the previously mentioned overblown praise for music that, while not bad, isn’t particularly ground-breaking, you’re on the right track. If you’re able to shut up and just enjoy the record, more power to you. I’ve been trying, maybe I’ll give it another go (despite seeing the “Oxford Comma” video the other day and liking it, then hating it, then getting upset about previously liking it, then just wanting to watch Tenenbaums to cleanse).