I smoked two joints before listened to Vampire Weekend then had to smoke two more
April 4, 2008 6:32 AM Subscribe
Why does everybody keep saying that Vampire Weekend reminds them of Sublime?
I am not a musician so I don't know how to analyze music technically, I just know how it makes me feel and how I respond to it, so technical points would be very helpful to me because I am lost otherwise.
I am not a musician so I don't know how to analyze music technically, I just know how it makes me feel and how I respond to it, so technical points would be very helpful to me because I am lost otherwise.
I'd also go with the guitar sound, although Bradley Nowell's sound is more reggae, while VW seem influenced more by the Ghanaian 'highlife' sound.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 6:46 AM on April 4, 2008
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 6:46 AM on April 4, 2008
Everyone keeps telling me they remind them of The Cure. Which I don't get at all.
posted by monkey!knife!fight! at 6:47 AM on April 4, 2008
posted by monkey!knife!fight! at 6:47 AM on April 4, 2008
Best answer: Because they have a very limited musical background so anything sounding like something other than white kid indie rock sounds like the only other ethnically influenced music they know?
posted by mikeh at 6:54 AM on April 4, 2008 [8 favorites]
posted by mikeh at 6:54 AM on April 4, 2008 [8 favorites]
Because they have a very limited musical background so anything sounding like something other than white kid indie rock sounds like the only other ethnically influenced music they know?
Heh. Yeah, I was wondering about that. They don't remind me of Sublime at all.
posted by delmoi at 7:02 AM on April 4, 2008
Heh. Yeah, I was wondering about that. They don't remind me of Sublime at all.
posted by delmoi at 7:02 AM on April 4, 2008
i have not heard the sublime comparison before. however, i often here people say they sound a lot like paul simon, specifically graceland.
so far we have three completely different suggestions of bands that vm sounds like. my vote is the comparisons are being made because most music is derivative.
posted by phil at 7:05 AM on April 4, 2008
so far we have three completely different suggestions of bands that vm sounds like. my vote is the comparisons are being made because most music is derivative.
posted by phil at 7:05 AM on April 4, 2008
Mikeh might be right; I've also heard VW compared to Paul Simon (which I think is a better comparison, but is still all "I know another white guy who took sounds from Africa!"
posted by rmless at 7:07 AM on April 4, 2008
posted by rmless at 7:07 AM on April 4, 2008
The VM singer's enunciation is vaguely like Bradley Nowell's, but Nowell had more range.
posted by goatdog at 7:34 AM on April 4, 2008
posted by goatdog at 7:34 AM on April 4, 2008
What mikeh said. People say a lot of wrong things.
And VW are not usually compared to Paul Simon generally, but Graceland in particular, which is at least a decent ballpark comparison.
posted by ludwig_van at 8:02 AM on April 4, 2008
And VW are not usually compared to Paul Simon generally, but Graceland in particular, which is at least a decent ballpark comparison.
posted by ludwig_van at 8:02 AM on April 4, 2008
Never seen the Sublime comparison but I have see the Haircut 100 comparison which is chillingly close to the bone.
posted by oh pollo! at 8:23 AM on April 4, 2008
posted by oh pollo! at 8:23 AM on April 4, 2008
They have copped some Soukous riffs, hence a similarity to Graceland/West African pop.
posted by zemblamatic at 8:39 AM on April 4, 2008
posted by zemblamatic at 8:39 AM on April 4, 2008
I like both bands, a lot, and I don't get it-but mikeh and ludwig_van helped me realize why you've heard people say that, holdkris99
posted by whiskey point at 8:53 AM on April 4, 2008
posted by whiskey point at 8:53 AM on April 4, 2008
They sound so much like Tinariwen's new album "Water is Life" I had to do a double take when I first listened to Vampire Weekend.
But to most people, musical genres are only taxonomically ordered into a few categories and hybrid-categories. I always found that the majority of people seem to categorize music based on socio-economic classifications. Like everything there is some truth in this, but for the most part is just ignorance and a reflection of how most people interface with music.
posted by geoff. at 9:29 AM on April 4, 2008
But to most people, musical genres are only taxonomically ordered into a few categories and hybrid-categories. I always found that the majority of people seem to categorize music based on socio-economic classifications. Like everything there is some truth in this, but for the most part is just ignorance and a reflection of how most people interface with music.
posted by geoff. at 9:29 AM on April 4, 2008
I wouldn't say they sound like Sublime - it's prety clear that Vampire Weekend's "afro" influences are much more indirect that Sublime's, stemming more from The Clash than from Bob Marley.
posted by muddgirl at 9:34 AM on April 4, 2008
posted by muddgirl at 9:34 AM on April 4, 2008
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who starts singing "And you can caaaaaalllll meeeee Allllllllll!" after listening to the Vampire Weekend CD :-)
Seriously, Sublime? I'm going with the "white kids who only listen to indie music" crowd.
posted by sideshow at 10:52 AM on April 4, 2008
Seriously, Sublime? I'm going with the "white kids who only listen to indie music" crowd.
posted by sideshow at 10:52 AM on April 4, 2008
on my first listen through they reminded me of Bedouin Soundclash - I haven't done another loop through to verify that initial similarity
posted by royalchinook at 11:20 AM on April 4, 2008
posted by royalchinook at 11:20 AM on April 4, 2008
Seriously, Sublime? I'm going with the "white kids who only listen to indie music" crowd.
I really doubt it's white kids who only listen to indie music that are comparing VW to Sublime. I'd never heard the comparison anywhere before this thread. More likely it's white kids who don't listen to much indie music but happened to hear VW on MTV2.
posted by ludwig_van at 11:25 AM on April 4, 2008
I really doubt it's white kids who only listen to indie music that are comparing VW to Sublime. I'd never heard the comparison anywhere before this thread. More likely it's white kids who don't listen to much indie music but happened to hear VW on MTV2.
posted by ludwig_van at 11:25 AM on April 4, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by rmless at 6:43 AM on April 4, 2008