After getting sick to death of hearing glowing praise on assorted blogs (mostly Stereogum – you’d think they paid them or something), I finally decided to check out the much revered Vampire Weekend. Listening through their self-titled debut album, I couldn’t find much to grab onto. A second time through it, I understood it a bit better, but it didn’t do much to bring me closer to actually liking them.

Vampire Weekend is composed (get it? composed, like music? cause they’re in a band? little pun for ya.) of four guys from Brooklyn. The band’s name is taken from an amateur film that their lead singer, Ezra Koenig, made when he was younger. Apparently it was just him fighting vampires to protect his virginity. A humorous notion. Important to note about this band is their African influences, as well as classical music influences, both of which shine through in many of their songs. All in all, it makes for a very strange blend of styles.

The music has a sort of slinky feel at times, if that makes any sense. There’s a good variety of musical styles on this album; “A-Punk” sounds like Assorted Jellybeans on downers; “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” (voted one of the best songs of 2007 by Rolling Stone) definitely reflects the African influences; M79 is one of the better songs, providing one of the more classical-inspired tracks on the album. “Campus” is a new-wavey piece that asks a question most of us have asked ourselves in our time, “How am I supposed to pretent / I never want to see you again?” “I Stand Corrected” uses synth-strings and Strokes-esque drums to help Ezra admit he was wrong: “You’ve been double checking on my facts / And I admit I have been lax.”

If there’s one thing positive I can say about this band, it’s that they definitely have personality. In fact, every song is basically dripping with it. The band has interesting ideas about how to use their instruments, as they often come through in unconventional ways. At certain points, the instruments in the band all seem to be at odds with each other, playing seemingly contradictory parts, but Vampire Weekend manages to make them work. The classical influence is very apparent on many songs, a harpsichord often playing parts that sound like they’re straight out of a Wes Anderson film. The guitar is isn’t really used in any traditional way; it’s more of a melodic, driving force in most songs, which often leaves the song sounding empty, due to lack of a rhythm guitar. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does take some getting used to.

Maybe that’s what it is about this band that has eluded me so far: they’re an extremely acquired taste, unless you wanna join the ranks of the Stereogum commenters and let us know how much you get it and how awesome you are for liking them. This band does seemingly succumb to Fall Out Boy syndrome. You know, like three years ago when you couldn’t go anywhere without people ranting about how great FOB is, and their fans would ostracize you if you didn’t absolutely love them. One of the commenters on Stereogum put it well, I think, when he said that this band’s hype is more about their image than how good their music is. Throw around some unorthodox influences like Congolese soukous music, refer to your band as “Upper West Side Soweto” (an African town), mention that you went to Columbia, and before you know it, you’re an indie kid’s (or blog’s) wet dream. A few songs have some catchy parts, some funny and clever lyrics, but for some reason this music doesn’t do much for me. That’s the strange thing; I know their music isn’t really bad, most of the songs are good in their own right, but I can’t get into it for reasons unknown.

I guess it would be fair to say that Vampire Weekend is the USA’s version of the Arctic Monkeys; some people think they’re totally overrated, some people think they’re undoubtedly the next big thing. I think I find myself leaning more toward the overrated side, but a part of me gets why people like the band so much. Like I said before, they definitely have personality, and nowadays, that can potentially carry you pretty far. “Oxford Comma” is bound to be a hipster anthem for years to come, so you better just get used to hearing it now.