Look outside at the raincoats coming, say OH

I don't understand the backlash bands get for finding success. I think most artists would gladly trade crossing the plains in a beat up tour van for a larger venue tour and mainstream radio airplay. Good music should simply be heard.

I say this having come a bit "late" in the game to a band that apparently exploded on the fringes of the Internet last fall, only to suffer some backlash now that they are getting some serious mainstream exposure.

You may have seen Vampire Weekend on Saturday Night Live a few weeks ago. Their clever video for A Punk has been percolating on MTV and Fuse for a bit now.



Their self-titled debut album has genuinely hooked me. It is the first great album of 2008.

Vampire Weekend is definitely young, and sometimes pretentious, but always thoroughly engaging. I have yet to find myself skipping past a single track on the CD.

In an era of over-glorified singles, why shouldn't we celebrate an entire solid debut album by an intriguing young band.

Listening to them you definitely see the Talking Heads/David Byrne world beat influences, and there are moments of the early Police clearly cribbed here and there. But considering how much the 1980's are influencing music right now, Vampire Weekend still manages to freshen up the sounds.

Ignore the backlash and believe the hype.

Vampire Weekend is the first must-buy CD of 2008.