courtesy of Vampire Weekend

I’m well versed in the art of loving buzz bands. When they’re new, everyone is eager to splash their loyalty on personal promotional surfaces of every kind (t-shirts, facebook pages, permanent ink designs on available skin). But often, when said buzz bands reach the sort-of–new time stamp, they’re about as good as sort-of–new sushi. To misquote Thomas Campbell: The latest buzz band has a hundred fathers, but that same buzz band (a few weeks later) is an orphan. I’m happy to report that this is not the case for still-buzzing band Vampire Weekend. With a “summering in the Hamptons” look, a Gossip Girl soundtrack vibe and a “sure we’ll play your party” lack of pretension onstage, the afro-pop meets indie rock outfit from NYC served up one of my favorite live debuts of recent time when I caught them at the Independent last time they were in town. What’s more, thanks to a new record deal, their once readily available tracks (like one of my favorites of last year, the Paul Simon–esque “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” off their debut EP) are suddenly not so available until the full-length gets a proper release. Frustrating news for those who missed their first chance (and have morals about downloading illegally). Great news for the band’s buzz factor—and those planning to catch them live at Popscene.

See Vampire Weekend at Popscene on January 31.