'Vampire Weekend' by Vampire Weekend
Trotter’s Top Ten position : 1 in 2008
UK Chart high : 15 in 2008
And with this entry, the completely coincidental run of five TTT Number One's come to an end. I never expected to have a decade top ten made up of each of the years' top picks, but I also didn't think some years would emerge with much more strength in depth - but enough of them later, on to the matter at hand. Vampire Weekend had the distinct disadvantage of being one of those NME start-of-the-year hype bands that you read about in print and think 'don't like the sound of that!'. Their white-boy preppy look didn't quite gel with what the press was terming an 'afro-beat' sound. It all just sounded a bit too manufactured, or at least 'posh boys in NYC play at being something they're not'. But then you listen to their first single 'A-Punk', with its genius chiming guitar intro and infectious 'ey-ey-ey-ey' refrain and any worries you might have had are burnt away by the sheer bright and breeziness of it all and the amount of joy spilling out of the speakers. The whole album hangs together perfectly, building a care-free, sunny atmosphere that is just pure FUN for both the band and the listener. And in a decade where we had our fair share of angst and gloom (which is fine in its place) and in the very year when the slightly-less-than-joyous recession hit hard this just set them apart from the rest of the pack. That and their completely incomprehensible lyrics of course. But any band who manages to namecheck Provincetown bears, sing about coal reserves, architectural features and English grammar is bloomin' marvellous in my book!
Look at A-Punk ; Oxford Comma ; Mansard Roof ; Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa ; Kids Don't Stand A Chance (live)
Listen to a sampling of the Top Fifty on Spotify as we go or the 'one from each album' version
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