Vampire Weekend: A-Punks on Afro-Pop

Esther White

Vampire Weekend.

Set List

• "Mansard Roof"
• "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"
• "Campus"
• "A-Punk"

World Cafe, June 25, 2008 - Vampire Weekend has emerged from the fertile New York indie-rock scene: All four of its members met while attending Columbia University. Still, they stick out of the crowd for two reasons. First, their endearingly wordy lyrics make Vampire Weekend's songs sound collegiate in the best possible way. And second, their unique sound inventively mixes contemporary American indie-rock, Western classical music and South African traditional music.

The band strived to capture its Afro-pop fandom in its songwriting, and it did well: Stylish songs such as "A-Punk" blend ska and woodwinds, while "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" invokes African dance music, not to mention lyrics about raging hormones. Vampire Weekend's highly anticipated self-titled full-length is out now.

This segment originally aired on Jan. 24, 2008.