Before the album was even released, Spin Magazine named Vampire Weekend the best new band of the year and featured the guys on the cover. They had a lot of hype to live up to, and they proved to be up to the challenge.

Vampire Weekend arrived in Milwaukee for the first time on April 4, riding the crest of an impressive wave of success.

The spanking new band from New York City has exploded onto the indie-rock scene with its self-titled debut album, earning rave reviews from some of the biggest magazines and blogs. The notoriously tough website Pitchfork.com gave the disc an 8.8/10 and helped to introduce the group to a powerful and growing hipster demographic.

Before the album was even released, Spin Magazine named Vampire Weekend the best new band of the year and featured the guys on the cover. They had a lot of hype to live up to, and they proved to be up to the challenge.

The band came out guns blazing with “Mansard Roof,” the first song off their album. Like much of the rest of the album, “Mansard Roof” uses staccato guitar riffs, simple keyboard work, and afro-pop beats to formulate an incredibly catchy and clever song with strong energy and an irresistible melody.

Because they have only released one album, the set was a bit short, though satisfying. In addition to every song off their disc, the band played the B-Side “Boston” and an untitled new one. The newer song was quick and catchy, and sounded a lot like the others.

Perhaps they wanted to keep the set consistent, but if Vampire Weekend expects to keep the momentum of their success, they are going to have to find something more for their next album. Their pop-sensibility and strong melodies have allowed them to quickly break into the scene, but something more is needed to make them stay.

The songs “M79” and “Campus” displayed the great harmony capabilities of Koenig and keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij, and when Rostam brought out another guitar for the driving encore “Walcott” the band seemed to be at full throttle.

In the end, Vampire Weekend delivered a short, energetic set with great songs that the crowd loved. Ezra Koenig served as a charming and engaging front man who could certainly keep the crowd happy. If they can come up with a strong second album and offer a little bit more than hooks, this is a band that Milwaukee might be seeing a lot more of.

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