I believe I expressed as much the last time I wrote about them, but, for some reason, I initially wanted to hate Vampire Weekend before ever hearing a note of their music. Something about their preppy pin-up aesthetic just irked me. Then, of course, all it took was one viewing of their video for “Cousins” (featuring the band inventively cavorting around Cordlandt Alley opposite 77 White Street, the former site of the Mudd Club) that got me to change my tune. I almost immediately warmed to them (although the placement of their song, “Holiday” in a Tommy Hilfiger ad still gets my goat). Sure, there’s still something a bit precious about them, but they remain a great band.
The band’s been silent for the last couple of years, but this morning, my colleague Drew e-mailed me a link to the video below, the first single off Vampire Weekend’s forthcoming album, Modern Vampires of the City (oy! Enough with the vampire bullshit already!)
A striking homage to the opening credit sequence of Woody Allen’s “Manhattan,” “Step” is another great, visual love-letter to the band’s native New York City. The Astor Place big glass box of black, sun-obfuscating death even makes a cameo. Enjoy.
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